Future Restructured
by Comment person
Summary: "Reverse time, save the future." Hailing from a future of destitute, Jaune Arc travels to the past to circumvent the future. Can the knight stop the events from unfolding and guarantee a safe future for all of humanity in Remnant? He has no choice. He must, he shall, and he will. No matter the costs.
1. Prologue

**Author's note: I would like to accredit "Greatcow" (a.k.a. "thegreatcow") for commissioning the drawing of Future Jaune Arc and granting me official permission to use it as a literary basis for this story (and the story's cover picture) and also the artist "dishwasher1910" for actually drawing the incredible sketch of Future Jaune Arc. Thank you.**

 **RWBY and all of its characters and concepts are the licensed property of RoosterTeeth and the creation of Monty Oum. May Monty rest in forever peace.**

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 **Future Restructured**

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 **Prologue**

Cold. Nothing around escaped the cold. Blistering winds skewed across the jagged edges of the mountain range and raged across the forsaken tundra, spreading the blizzard's fury over the tundra plains. Frigid snow ghosted throughout the air with an endless haunting howl. The rocky wilderness ground had been coated by the frost for weeks now. Such was the typical climate of Atlas this time around.

 _It wasn't always like this. I can remember a time long before all of this._

A lone figure stood out on the icy tundra. Silence clung to him like how his tattered cloak clung to him in the billowing wind. Snow pelted against his marred white armored body as he stood there looking onto the obscured horizon. His sight could barely pierce 25 meters into the wintry winds but his sensors could detect thrice fold. Power coursed through the hardened wires that made up his artificial body. Forever damaged, the right remaining half of his helmet still functioned properly and still glowed with energy, the left half having been lost years ago in a battle he still remembered. Wind tussled the dirty blonde hair that stuck out from his asymmetrically exposed head. The environment brushed against his exposed left face and modified eyepiece but it did not bother him.

Hardly anything bothered him anymore. Hooked onto him and dangling across his chest-piece was a broken piece of a circlet. Its shape and splendor turned to rust and grotesqueness beyond recognition.

 _A time when everything seemed innocent. A time where humanity thrived. A time that held a future for everyone._

His blue eyes squinted at what his helmet and connected eyepiece simultaneously detected ahead of him. A clawed hand grasped the hilt of his giant sword and another tightened itself against the plated shield latched to his left forearm. Trembles shook the ground beneath him. Black masses started to appear amidst the blurred snowy gale. Dozens of glowering red eyes bore towards him; ravenous murder and bloodlust lacing each of their gazes.

 _A time before the Darkness._

Tightening his robotic jaw, the cybernetic knight stared back at the horde of Grimm and reached into one of his armored compartments with his left hand, maneuvering enough to not let his shield get in the way. Several of the Grimm eyed the white Dust crystal that shined in the faint lighting. Raising his sword, the knight slammed the Dust crystal into a slot in the guard. The giant sword christened to life and the blade itself radiated with the bright white of the Dust crystal. The knight raised up his sword and shield and shifted his stance. An alpha Beowolf howled before the creatures of Grimm surged at their prey.

 _We were foretold that one day the Darkness would return.  
Legends, fairytales, the duty of all Huntsmen and Huntresses…even our music warned of the coming Darkness._

The frontline Grimm were cleaved with a swipe from the icy blade followed by the next line behind them. A lone Beowolf ducked beneath the slash and lunged, but its head caved from the brunt of the knight's shield smashing through it. He lashed out his sword to cut down another Beowolf adjusting his palm to twirl the hilt into a reverse grip and decapitating another Beowolf with a curve of his arm. Dagger claws rebounded off his repositioned shield and a followed up kick blew out a solid chunk of the Beowolf's torso. Using the momentum of the kick, he spun completely around and impaled another Grimm in its head. The piercing blade and the icy Dust running through its metal were enough to deliver instant death.

Letting go of the sword impaled in the Grimm, the cybernetic knight reoriented himself and raised his shield to meet the claws of the snarling alpha Beowolf. Before the Grimm could react, he had rotated the opposite way beneath the alpha's claws, wrenching the sword from the slain Grimm and batting aside the alpha's claws with his shield. The alpha Beowolf released an anguished roar as it was cleaved in half by the icy blade. Leveling his shield and beckoning with his sword, he braced for the oncoming wall of Beowolves and Ursai.

 _The Darkness…the creatures of Grimm…unyielding and unrelenting in their desire to extinguish humanity._

As the bodies of the dispatched Grimm evaporated into ichor, he glanced up to see more Grimm rushing, ignorant of the fate that befell their fallen kin. Boarbatusks charged forward curling into their signature ball forms and spin dashing right at him. Tightening his glowing blade in a reverse grip, he too dashed forward across the snow to meet them head on.

The ice-powered sharpened edge pierced through white bone plates and cut straight through the curled-up Boarbatusk like note paper. The other spinning Boarbatusks met the same fate as the cybernetic knight blurred between them one by one, slicing them up before they could even uncurl themselves. One of them managed to uncurl itself and stopped to see its fellow Grimm decimated before a whiff of wind from behind stabbed its sword down through the Grimm.  
Dying squeals and grunts were silenced as the blade was drawn from the body.

An eruption of white and black from the ground made him leap away. Rearing his head upward, the two heads and four eyes of a King Taijitu glared down upon him, their tongues flickering out in anticipation for the kill. The black head of the King Taijitu lunged at him with its jaw agape and sword-sized fangs barred. He thrusted the tip of his sword forward and successfully stabbed the giant snake's head right through its nose, the head releasing a hissing screech akin to a cry and stopped a foot away from biting his body.

Leaping onto the impaled Grimm's head, he grabbed the hilt and wrenched the sword upward, cutting deeper into the Grimm's skull. He became a blur as he ran down the King Taijitus' spine with his sword in tow. The sword split through the Grimm snake's spine as he ran pulling it behind him. Sensing the death of its other head and the immense pain tearing up its spin, the white head of the King Taijitus reared up to face the attacker, but by then the knight had already leapt with a twist and decapitated its head.

 _Millions have died because of the Darkness…_

The fangs of a Beowolf bit down from behind on his left cybernetic arm joint before he could backhand it with his shield. Before he could break its piercing hold on him or raise his sword, an Ursa took the opportunity to ineptly swipe its claws at him, three of its claws landing their mark on his shoulder armor piece. Gritting his teeth, he yanked his left arm joint out from the mouth of the Beowolf, shattering its teeth with the motion, and clubbing the Ursa's head with his fist. The Ursa's head blew apart from the force as he hacked the broken-teethed Beowolf with his sword. His systems blinked a warning across his vision.

He quickly raised his shield and felt a heavy-caliber Dust round impact against his defense and buckle his arm. The shot itself shattered several layers of his shield and left a sizable bullet impression. Had he not blocked it would have taken his head off. Peering around the edge of his shield, he could see black humanoid silhouettes shambling their way across the snow with their weapons dragging beside them. The leader, however, stood with their sniper rifle aimed at him with one hand. The crimson red glow in their eyes shined through the torrent of snowfall.

… _and hundreds have fallen to it._

 _'Wisps.'_ his mind seethed before he broke into a charge towards them. The leading wisp fired off another sniper shot, but he deflected it with the flat of his blade. A millisecond later and he was gutting through the wisp leader and bracing for the immediate onslaught of the other wisps that animated to life and sprung at him.

 _I fight for all of those that have gone before me._

Breath finally caught up to him as he watched as the last wisp's ichor body disintegrated. He craned his vision over to the last Grimm of the horde. Significantly few remaining Beowolves and Ursai, flocks of Griffons, and a Nevermore perched atop a Goliath. The Goliath bellowed through its trunk as the Grimm around it bolted into action. The Griffons descended upon the knight with cawing screeches, the Beowolves with howls and Ursai with roars. The Nevermore cried with fury and took to the skies, dive bombing at the knight that stood before them. Letting out a visible breath, he ran towards them all.

 _I fight on for my friends._

Thrust, twist, slash, block, counter, kick, deflect, slice. The last Beowolves fell to pieces around him. Raising his shield to buffer back the jagged claws of another Griffon swooping past him, he threw himself at the few Ursai remaining. The icy blade bisected the first one's torso, the shield broke the second one's swiping paw and a followed up head-butt caved in its skull.

 _I fight for the one I loved._

As the several dead Ursai disintegrated around him the flying Griffons started to encircle him. Snow began to rise off the ground and pull into the cyclone of Griffons encasing the knight in the eye of the twister. Black silhouettes streaked across his vision ahead of him and dry screeches reached his earpieces. He braced his footing and gripped the hilt of his blade with both hands. The sword's glow shown amidst the vortex of black. His systems detected motion from behind.

Pivoting around he cut down a Griffon mid-screech as it flew out to attack him. More motion detected made him twist around in one movement and cut down another Griffon trying to take him from behind. More and more Griffons broke from their encircling torrent and dove for the knight with their claws and beaks hungry for prey. Each of them were cut down by a fluid flurry of connected swipes and slashes.

Massive movement and projectiles were detected. He barely had time to turn and lift his shield to block a volley of giant piercing feathers, the rest of them imbuing themselves in the snow around him. In the moment he took to block the range attack the giant Nevermore emerge through the whirlwind of Griffons and snapped its beak around his body. Its prey crushed by its mouth, the giant Nevermore arched and ascended into the air, the Griffons eagerly cawing after it.  
He fought against the excruciating pain from the beak that chew viciously around him and the rapid height gain disorientating of his senses.

Prying the Nevermore's beak open with his legs and back, he managed to orient his sword and jab straight into the roof of the Nevermore's mouth, punctuating into the bird's brain and rendering it lifeless as it released a dying murderous caw. Momentum carried the two a bit higher until gravity finally took hold. He tumbled out of the Nevermore's beak and freefell towards the ground. Had it not been for the flock of Griffons flying up towards him it would have been a smooth descent. Readying his sword, the cybernetic knight plummeted at the Griffons, his sword a white blur as he hacked through every one of them on the way down.

By the time he had cut through the last Griffon he was about a hundred meters from the ground. Cerulean blue above locked onto the menacing red belonging to the Goliath below. Electricity surged through his cybernetic arm and channeled into his weapon. The sword already powered by Dust cackled with raw energy as he fueled his own power into the sword. He tightened his grip as plummeted downward and stabbed the Goliath with his energy enhanced blade. Brilliant white light erupted from contact.

… _and I will keep on fighting till the day I fall._

Cold air whistled across the now silent battlefield. The slashed bodies of Griffons finally stopped raining down into the miniature crater, the Nevermore not so far away. At the center of the depression lied the unmoving and dead mass of the Goliath. Frigid snow whipped through the air and intertwined with the ichor leaving the fallen Grimm. A lone sword stood embedded in the middle of the crater. The wind nipped away entrails of ice from the thick blade still glowing from the Dust crystal that powered it. An armored hand wrapped its clawed fingers around the hilt and drew the weapon from the ground. The scathed cybernetic knight stood with his sword and battered shield. Despite being torn and mangled, his cloak somehow still clung to him. His cerulean blues regarded the carnage of Grimm around him.

Suddenly his systems detected an incoming transmission. Data processed through his head relayed the caller's identify and he opened the channel.

"Jaune? Is that you?" a female voice sounded on the frequency. Her voice was laced with static and the roar of engines in the background.

"I read you, Reaper." Jaune acknowledged as he yielded his shield to its placeholder on his back.

"Uuggh, don't call me that." the voice groaned in response. "You were suppose to wait for me!"

"Any further delay would have allowed the Grimm time to move in closer than they already were." Jaune answered stoically as he began to walk out of the crater he had placed himself in. He could hear the whining of a bullhead's engines close by and raised his sword, its glow acting like a homing beacon. The ice Dust crystal had nearly run out of power and his sword's glow began to dim significantly albeit still identifiable through the blizzard. His scanners identified the bulk of the incoming bullhead's frame flying carefully towards him, the wind and snow trying to obscure its flight.

"You were suppose to wait for me…" the voice pouted.  
Jaune let out a sigh as he climbed out of the crater and treaded through the snow, he knew how much she loved fighting Grimm.  
Undoubtingly a horde such as this one would have given her the thrills she energetically sought for.

"The next horde we come across I will leave to you then." Jaune consoled.

"If we ever get the chance again." came the solemn reply.

The response piqued his curiosity.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, watching the bullhead touch down meters away from him.

Silence was all that greeted him as he approached the aerial vehicle opening its hatch for him.

"Ruby?"

He could begin to see the outline of the Reaper herself waiting for him in the hold as he drew closer to the bullhead. His best friend's continued silence began to put him on edge. Whatever news she had it must be important.

"Jaune," Ruby finally forced herself to speak, "it's ready; Project: Continuum is ready."

* * *

 **Author's note: I am basing this future off of dishwasher1910's other works of the Future RWBY characters. As much as those commissioned artworks may allude to a major plot element within this story, I promise you that it will not spoil anything, so go check them out whenever you can. Again, thank you Greatcow for the official permission to use Future Jaune Arc.**

 **Reviewing and critiquing is highly appreciated, especially with the battle scenes. It has been a long while since I have done any sort of fighting scene and would like some feedback on them. It's not necessary, but any criticism will surely help me enhance this story as it progresses.**

 **I should also mention that I will be continuing this story soon, I must first finish up another major story of mine before I can direct my focus onto this one. Why am I uploading this now then? Just to put it out there and get started.**

 **Thanks for reading and thank you for leaving a review if you do so. I welcome praise, critique, and flames.**

 **Stay tuned people.**


	2. Chapter I

**Author's note: A lot has happened since I last updated: RWBY Chibi, Shane Newville's Letter, and** _ **plenty**_ **of other things throughout the fandom and also in my personal life. Despite all of these…comeuppances and possible controversies, I am too much emotionally invested in RWBY to simply up and abandon it right now, especially after Volume Three. If for some farfetched reason I suddenly lose interest or find the show no longer appealing, I can simply stop watching it and find something else. That statement should apply to all haters.**

 **Enough of my soapbox though, I wish to thank all of you that added this story to your Favorite's list, those who are now following, and everyone who has left a review with more than generous feedback. The amount of support and praise has honestly been extremely surprising. Thank you.**

* * *

 **Chapter I**

The massive airship transport gracefully strode through the skies on its way to its destination. Its Dust-powered propulsions thrusting the transport forward beneath the looming overcast above and the four massive aerodynamic wings traversed along the winds. Approaching the skyport jutting off the ledge of a cliffside, the craft descended and folded its wings as it gracefully pivoted to its side. The airship smoothly interlocked with the pier and unhinged its landing ramp. Amongst the few passengers that disembarked came the in-training Huntresses and Hunters of tomorrow.

"And we're back!" Yang proclaimed and lifted her hands into the air, letting all before bask in the glory that was their arrival. Or at least _was_ the glory till a belching upchuck ruined the moment.  
Yang glanced over her shoulder and spotted the only other blond member of their little group hurdled over a nearby trashcan and promptly emptying their lunch out.

"Couldn't hold it in, could ya Vomit Boy?" Yang groaned.

Jaune's only response was a dejected whine as his fingers clung to metal waste bin for some sort of stability. A gentle hand firmly patted against his back while he regained his senses. Tearing his gaze away from the trashcan's contents, Jaune's eyes met the sweet sight of two vivid green eyes laced with concern.

"Are you gonna be okay Jaune?" Pyrrha asked, an amused-yet-caring smile edging its way onto her lips. Jaune slowly eased out of his nauseated state and pulled himself away from the trashcan. His partner's hand remained where it was while he regained the feel of his footing on the firm, motionless platform beneath them.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Jaune managed to cough out groggily. Pyrrha slowly withdrew her hand from his back and allowed him a moment to fully recuperate. With a deep breath, Jaune steeled whatever remained of his lunch inside his stomach and walked forward, his partner following closely beside him.

A few steps later came a figure running to his other side from behind and playfully nudging his ribcage.

"Those dinosaur chicken nuggets upsetting your stomach?" Ruby chimed in teasingly next to him.

"Oh _ha ha_ ," Jaune sarcastically laughed, rolling his eyes, "for your information, those little dinosaur chicken nuggets were _delicious_ , thank you very much." This earned a snicker from Ruby and an unseen smile from Pyrrha.

"Should've _totally_ gone with the turkey legs though!" Nora laughed as she strolled up to the three of them with her hands behind her head. Ren, like always, silently trailed a step beside her.

"Oh come on, those nuggets had nothing to do with my motion-sickness!" Jaune argued back and pointed a finger at a beaming Nora.

Ruby decided to take that as her cue to slip away from JNPR and regroup back with her own team standing idly up ahead. With them were several of Weiss's bellhops hauling their bags and suitcases to their dorms. The young silver-eyed leader caught up to the rest of her team.

For a brief moment, Ruby's eyes took in the sight of Beacon Academy: its widespread fields of green; the archways and buttresses conjoined between buildings; the elegance of the Academy's castle-like towers jutting out at the sky; and the majesty that was the CCT Tower and its luminous green glow shining in the sky.

She practically knew all about its history. A very place that inspired awe and the very center of her own dreams of becoming a Huntress. Despite having already seen it and practically lived there for close to a full year now, Beacon's grandeur and splendor never ceased to take her breath away.  
Even if the grey overcast clouds added a foreboding atmosphere, Beacon was, as play on as it sounded, a beacon of hope for all.

"Are you sure it was necessary to have them take our suitcases to our room?" Blake's voice interrupted her trail of thoughts.

"Yes, I insist," Weiss replied haughtily and folded her arms, "I refuse to start out our second year hauling around bags."

"Technically the semester starts in two weeks." Ruby pointed out.

"That reminds me," Weiss said and moved her hands to her hips, bearing over at Ruby with scrutinizing suspicion, "why _did_ you want us to return two before the semester started?"

"Yeah, what gives sis? I was out in the middle of an adventure when I got your message." Yang added.

Blake didn't say anything but the interest in her eyes was clear when she tilted her head and focused her gaze on Ruby.

Ruby put on a nervous smile and twiddled her thumbs under the demanding stares she was receiving from everyone. Seeing that the three of them weren't letting up, and the fact that Weiss was still leering down at her, Ruby gathered her thoughts and formulated an answer.

"Because…I thought we all should spend time together before the semester started?" Ruby mewled, her own words evidently questioning themselves as she spoke.

"Ruby's right." came Pyrrha's saving voice from behind them. The four members of RWBY reoriented themselves around to face the four members of JNPR standing behind them. Ruby felt herself let go of the involuntary breath she was holding and listened to Pyrrha's words of wisdom.

"Once the semester starts, all of our classes will be pushed ahead so they don't interfere with the Vytal Festival or the Tournament's Qualifications."

"Yeah!" Ruby piped up.

It was true: the Vytal Festival was only a few months away; the Qualifications even sooner. Despite all of the excitement and anticipation budding in the air, they were still Huntsmen and Huntresses in-training and attending an academy, and thus classes came first and foremost. Much to everyone's dissatisfaction, of course.

"Hmph," Weiss agreed, "well I, for one, think we should unpack before we do anything."

"So you don't want to haul things around but you want to unpack?" Yang pointed out.

"I brought valuables!"

Her mentioning of unpacking cause Jaune's eyes to widen and him frantically search around before turning to the rest of his team.

"Uh g-guys? Where's our luggage?" Jaune asked with apprehension. Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora glanced around them to locate their belongings they brought with them but the apparent lack of said items indicated otherwise. Weiss cleared her throat and raised her index finger.

"I had my bellhops take our stuff up to our dorms since we live across from each other." Weiss clarified before the team broke out into a panic. "You're welcome, by the way."

Jaune and Pyrrha let out sighs of relief and Ren gave a small thankful smile to show his appreciation. On the other hand, Weiss's words of assurance elicited quite the opposite reaction from Nora, as apparent as the expression of fearful terror sprawled over her facial features.

"Ooh noooo, my STUFF!" Nora shouted and suddenly clutched her arms around Ren, forcing the air out of his lungs, "If they bump my suitcases too much everything will blow up in their faces! REN! WE HAVE TO SAVE THEM BEFORE THEY EXPLODE!"

Just as everyone was about to blink at Nora's outcry, the Valkyrie girl lifted Ren off the ground and took off, leaving a faint distinctive outline of their bodies where they were a mere second ago. Jaune and Pyrrha harbored nervous expressions while the girls of RWBY were at a lost for reaction.

"Uhh, we'll catch up with you guys later." Jaune whimpered before he and Pyrrha ran past them to catch up with their frantic teammate way ahead of them. The four members of RWBY watched them take off down the path to the courtyard. Only Team JNPR's tenacity and prowess could equal their quirkiness and eccentricity.

"Sooooo, what should we do now?" Ruby wondered, reigning in their attentions.

"Like I said before: I'm all for unpacking our bags back in our dorm before we do anything." Weiss reiterated.

"But that's no fun at alll." Ruby droned and slumped her shoulders.

"Yeah, where's the fun in that?" Yang reaffirmed and plopped her elbow on Ruby's shoulder, "We oughta finish off this summer doing something awesome! Besides, we gotta top off how we started off last semester too."

"I'm…gonna side with Weiss on this one," Blake spoke up, moving next to the heiress to express her point.

"Thank you." Weiss interjected before Blake could continue.

"The trip back here took a bit out of me and…honestly, I'm not really up for an adventure right now."

"Aww Blake, you're no fun." Yang teased with a smile.

Ruby sighed and shook off her sister's arm. There was only one way they could settle this. She already knew the outcome, but for the sake of fairness, it had to be done.

"Alright then…all in favor for spending the afternoon in our dorm doing _boring_ things like unpacking?"

"Me." Weiss said insistently. Blake gave a thumbs up.

"Those in favor of doing something incredibly cool?"

"You already know my answer." Yang proudly proclaimed and shot her a thumbs up. Ruby nodded and internally sighed; just like she expected.

"It appears we are tied." Ruby stated awkwardly. Yang reached over and snatched Ruby in a bear-gripping neck lock. The silver-eyed girl immediately tried to pry her sister's crushing arm away from her neck with tugs and grunts. Yang's attention focused on the two juxtapositioned teammates in front of them.

"Ah don't worry sis, we can go do something while we leave Checkmate here alone in the dorm," Yang reasoned before her mouth formed a mischievous smirk and she waggled her eyebrows, "Or should I say… _Monochrome_?"

Weiss's eyes turned white from shock and Blake's back went rigid with a noticeable twitch in her eye. The heiress, however, was the first to recover and furiously bawled her hands into fists. Blake on the other hand stood there petrified.

"Yang Xiao Long, how dare you insinuate such a thing!" Weiss snapped, "Implying such a thing between Blake and I would be like implying something along the likes of _Enabler_."

Yang's face went blank before it was quickly replaced with subtle anger. Without a word, Yang released Ruby from her neck lock, who stumbled around to catch her breath. The blonde took a step forward towards Weiss and glared at her straight in her eyes.

"Not. _Even_." Yang countered with underlying malice.

Weiss, for her given credit, met Yang's dangerous scowl with her own cold glare. Ruby finally regained her breath and saw what was unfolding between her sister and her best friend. She had to act before things got out of hand. Ruby quickly wedged herself in between the two and attempted to push them apart.

"Whooa whooa, calm down Freezerburn." Ruby found herself coaxing, and realizing her mistake for a choice of words a second too late. Both Weiss and Yang directed their intimidating stares at Ruby, who shriveled up with a timid _eep!_ At least they weren't fighting anymore. Meanwhile, Blake had finally snapped out of her stupor thanks to her Faunus senses picking up something in the atmosphere. Ignoring the feud that was starting to brew in front of her, her eyes darted to the overcast sky above them. If her senses were correct…

"Guys, I think we should-"

A bolt of lightning suddenly split the clouds above and followed immediately by a ground shaking boom of thunder. All four girls were now looking up at the sky covered with grey clouds which were suddenly beginning to rain heavily.

"Huh, thunderstorms weren't in the forecast this morning..." Ruby remarked as she shielded her eyes from the raindrops that began to fall. Gradually, the rainfall started to increase by the second and noiseless lightning flashes lit up the gray sky.

"Welp, Checkmate! You guys win!" Yang conceded and started to speed off to the dorms. The rest of Team RWBY hastily followed suit. Ruby, being the only one, pulled her red hood over her head to keep herself from getting too wet. The other three girls had no such luck and complaints and gripes came from both Weiss and Yang covering their hair. To nobody's surprise, Blake had already passed Yang and quickly took the lead.

Rain continued to pour harder and harder, lightning began to streak throughout the kingdom's sky, and thunder ruptured from the depths of the darkening clouds.  
It was looking to be a very fierce storm.

* * *

 **Author's note: I was planning on typing this out much later…but I felt the need to get started sooner. Considering how fast the days are passing and how many people have supported this story just from the Prologue – the PROLOGUE – I felt I should at least give another chapter to satisfy yall in the meantime. Still going to work on my other story though, so hopefully this will hold you guys over.**

 **As much as I would love to delve into constant and epic action, that's not this kind of story. Storytelling-wise. It's going to build up. So sorry to all looking for instant action.**

 **I do hope I nailed the characters' personalities. I value verisimilitude in my fanfics. I think I did an okay job…right?  
**

 **Just like last time: all insightful critiques, reviews, comments, and flames are welcomed!**


	3. Chapter II

**Author's note: WHAT'S THIS? Another chapter? Heh, going back to the whole ordeal of me saying I wanted to give something to hold yall over…I hope these chapters do. Figured I ride out the momentum for this one before I have to pick it up again later…metaphorically speaking. Also an attempt to sped up the story progression. That being said…enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter II**

"AAAAHHAHAAHAHAA!" Nora laughed at the top of her lungs. Yet another streak of lightning flickered out from the clouds and through the pouring rain, striking down to the tips of her outstretched pinky finger. She felt the sheer electricity from the lightning bolt surge through her muscles and veins, invigorating and boosting her strength by who-knows-what amount. The rain that pelted her and soaked her clothes and skin only made Nora more conductible. Sparks and shock discharges cackled around her fists as her semblance converted it into power. Raw power.

Beaming a viciousness grin, Nora braced her footing against the rooftop and channeled a miniscule amount of energy into her legs.

"WEEEEE!" the girl exclaimed as she kicked off from the rooftop and into the air, travelling dozens of meters within a few seconds. Harsh winds battered against her and rain assailed her entire body as she 'flew' upwards. All of the electricity that she absorbed and flickered out from her made Nora glow amid the darkened sky. Reaching the highest point of her trajectory before gravity began to tug on her, Nora concentrated all of her newly absorbed strength into her arms and hands. The voltage of natural lightning converted into force equated to –

"SMASH!" Nora cried at the top of her lungs and gave a single clap.

 _ **BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM!**_

The thunder-like soundwave blasted throughout the air, over the entirety of Beacon, and heard from the city of Vale. It was so powerful that its rippling shockwaves flung the girl higher into the sky. Ignoring the white ringing noise in her ears, Nora giggled as she plummeted back down towards the rooftop. Despite the added boost and the wind and rain obscuring her path, she could see the outline of the rooftop as she plunged downward. Seconds pasted before she finally touch downed.

"Oof!" Nora squeaked as she landed on her rear.  
Picking herself up from the fractured rooftop floor, she dusted the debris off of her drenched cloths.

"I wish Ren could've seen that…" she pouted.

After she, and Ren, rescued Weiss's bellhops from exploding from all the new grenades she had bought for Magnhild for the Vytal Festival, they all sorted their luggage and unpacked; Team RWBY even joined in too with their own bags.  
It was later when they were done unpacking and Nora took off her headphones did she realize the pouring thunderstorm that was raging outside dorm and blackening the whole sky. Obviously, her first instinct was to go out and sing in the rain, but then as more and more lightning bolts lit up the clouds, she hatched the clever idea of playing _with_ lightning. Electricity was a part of her semblance after all.

Sadly, she found herself playing out in the thunderstorm on the roof top alone. Ren decided to spend some relaxing time in the library to catch up on a few books. Even though she _really_ wished he was out here watching her wield the power of lightning, she was pretty sure that his books weren't waterproof by any means. Plus they did spend the whole summer together; she reasoned that some alone time was warranted.

Jaune and Pyrrha took off for some sparring practices. Their team leader had initially been reluctant, but thanks to Pyrrha reminded him about the Vytal Festival Tournament ahead of them, and her own enthusiastic "coaxing", Jaune relented and took off with Pyrrha. Nora had initially invited them to join her on the rooftop since they often held their training sessions on a different area on the rooftop, but they weren't too fond with getting drenched by the weather and decided to train in the gym.

She rolled her eyes at the thought of those two lovebirds. How could Jaune be _sooo_ oblivious and Pyrrha be _sooo_ timid?! If they didn't get together-together by the end of this semester she would absolutely take matters into her…

Nora turned and stared up at the rainclouds above them. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped at what she sensed. Her dealings with electricity have taught her not only how to channel it into her energy but also how to detect electrostatic buildups and potential discharges in the atmosphere. She could practically _smell_ the ozone! If she could align herself with its trajectory and absorb all of its voltage and convert it into strength…

The girl's maniacal giggles were a mixture of giddiness and insanity as she clamored to the highest point on the rooftop. She reached her destination, stood tall and proud, and pulled Magnhild out into the air. That lightning was going to be _hers_!

Out from the darkness came the discharge. Nora's eyes gleamed with excitement. The tremendous lightning bolt lash down from the sky and…..completely flew over her and Magnhild. Nora immediately spun her head around and watched the lightning streak off into the sky and struck somewhere off in the distance. Judging by the general location, the massive lightning bolt struck somewhere in Forever Falls, a place being concentrated by lightning strikes for some odd reason.

"Awww." Nora cried and slumped her Warhammer/grenade launcher. She was really looking forward to catching that massive lightning bolt. That oddly aligned…powerful… and the slowest trackable lightning bolt she had ever seen.

"Oh well." Nora bubbled and went back to conducting.

* * *

" _Reverse time, save the future."_

Her voice echoed throughout his mind. He could feel the hot sensation of prickling needles begin to dissipate all over his body and fade away into the air along with the heaviness of his limbs. Scans indicated that he was still in one piece and his shield and sword were still with him.  
His nerves slowly began to detect the surroundings. He could already tell that his knees and hands were dug deep into dirt while high levels of ozone surrounded him, rain pattered against his frame and hair, and reality returned all around him. All systems were nominal. Finally, he opened his eyes and laid sight upon his armored fingers protruding from charred dirt.

Jaune pulled his hands out from the ground and rose. Steam hissed off from his armor as the rainfall attempted to cool him down. His readings showed optimal functionality and his power still flowed through his body. The cybernetic knight switched to night-vision and took in his surroundings. Aside from the scorch marks on the trees surrounding the clearing his arrival had made, he could see the red leafs of the forest everywhere.

 _'Forever Falls.'_

He turned his head to the south and could see the coastal city of Vale in the distance. If Vale was intact, then that meant…

Jaune slowly shifted his gaze to the east. There in the distance shined the green glow of the CCT, located right in the heart of Beacon Academy. Jaune let go a sigh of utter relief.

Project: Continuum was a success.

Warnings suddenly flashed across his vision. Turning his head to the source, Jaune quickly spotted a Grimm emerging from the forest and approach. Identifying the protruding spikes and claws, Jaune turned and faced the massive Ursa Major. His memory suddenly flashed back to an all-too-familiar situation so very long ago; tree sap, a bully, and his first Grimm kill ever. Being the newcomer from the future and all, it appeared that an Ursa Major was going to serve as his first kill yet again.

More scans detected increased movement and his eyes caught sight of several other Ursai approaching. So the circumstance had changed but the situation remained the same. He had to get to Beacon by dawn. If his memory served correct, then he would definitely find means of discrete transport within the city of Vale and would have to travel without attracting too much attention. He would just have to get there right after he took care of these Grimm.

Jaune drew his massive sword and equipped his shield. He really should've taken the time to fixed his shield beforehand. The Ursa Major roared its challenge and the others readied their claws. Something felt strangely off to him though, almost if he was missing something.

Realizing what it was, Jaune glanced down at his right shoulder and discovered that his cloak had vanished completely. It must've burned up during the whole time-travelling process. Damn.

The Ursa Major bellowed a mighty roar; a roar that immediately died when Jaune's blade decapitated its head off. The other Ursai proceeded with caution as they spread out and encircled their foe and their fallen. Abandoning all caution, the sleuth of Ursai lunged forward. Less than a minute lapsed before they lay lifeless on the charred ground.

* * *

Rhythmic beats from the speakers reverberated throughout the red monochromatic club. Few had shown up during the night due to the horrible storm occurring outside of the club's walls. What was meant to be an exclusive V.I.P party event turned into a night of sullen business.

Junior leaned his elbow on the bar and observed the dance floor. All of the few dancers on the dance floor were his uniformed henchmen on break. He had half a mind to reprimand them and put them back to work to keep to business, but there was no business to speak of. He'd reasoned to give them this night for slacking. He knew that somewhere in the club were the Malachite twins, but he was pretty sure they were off finding something to do and wouldn't show up unless something or someone decided to wreak havoc.

The silver lining to all of this? Nobody was there to cause a hassle. No cleanup would be needed afterwards; no troubles would be caused; and he was pretty sure that a specific blondie wouldn't be showing up either to cause property damage. Content, Junior reached beneath the bar and took out a bottle of his favorite alcoholic drink.

All of a sudden he heard commotion coming from the front. The club owner glanced across the dance floor and saw two of his henchmen barging through the massive twin doors and rush to close them shut. Junior grunted in irritation as he set aside his bottle and hopped over the bar. Just when he thought he could close early tonight.

"What's going on?" Junior called out to them. One of the henchmen that ran inside quickly made his way over to him. His uniform suit was disheveled and his red shades were cracked.

"S-sir he came down from the rooftops!" the poor henchman stuttered in his terrorized state. "The guys in front tried to throw him out b-but he j-just-"

A metallic bang resonated from the front doors.

Everyone in the club stopped what they were doing and stared at the intruder. The intruder stood in the middle of the entrance threshold with one armored hand raise, no doubtingly the same one he used to force the doors open.  
Junior sized up the man armored in white from afar. Was he a robot? No, half of the man's helmet was missing and revealed a very human face. A human face with an eyepiece over a blue eye and wavy… _blond_ …hair. It was obvious that this guy wasn't on the V.I.P. list either.

"Why are you idiots standing around?" Junior barked and motioned his henchmen forward, "Deal with him!"

The mob of henchmen drew their weapons and rushed forward. The intruder's eye narrowed as they drew close.

Junior watched in utter incredulity as his men were launched and thrown all over the place. He had to duck to avoid two of them being thrown him. He watched in dread as henchmen were flung into the wine import storages, shattering unopened bottles and knocking over entire wall-sized storage racks. Several henchmen were sent crashing into the floor and left trenches upon their skidding impacts. A few were tossed through the decorative glass columns and shattered them. One was tossed all the way over at the DJ, effectively taking the two of them out and destroying the music system. If the sound behind him pointed anything out it was that they henchmen he had dodged had crashed into the bar and breaking a ton of glassware and wood. Junior turned and nearly choked at what he saw: the two henchmen were sent _through_ the bar! Junior immediately ran off to get his weapon.

* * *

Jaune sent the last of the henchmen crashing through another glass column. He hadn't wanted to resort to this, but it was the only way he was going to get in and obtain what he needed. Thankfully he had no need to use his sword against these men, as evident as their unconscious bodies were strewed throughout the club. All of this could have been avoided if they had just let him in.

He took a few steps forward before he was confronted by the two twins dressed in white and red respectively. If his memory served correct: Melanie and Militia Malachite. His eyes glanced back and forth between the two of them as they spoke.

"So like, who's the _cutie_?" Melanie drawled and readied her heel blades.

"I have no idea Melanie, but he's, like, being bad." Militia replied and flashed out her claws.

"We should totally punish him for causing a mess."

"Totally."

Melanie leapt forward and slashed her left heel-blade to his face. Militia darted forward with her right claw aimed to stab his torso. Jaune reacted faster than they could see. Both of the twin's eyes widened when his sidestepped their attacks and countered. His armored hands clamped down on Melanie's ankle and crunched around Militia's claws. Less than a second later and the twins were yanked from midair and swirled around. Jaune swooped his right arm upward and released Militia flying into the light set above while coming around in his momentum and flinging Melanie across the club. The girl in white crashed into the wall next to the bar. The twins let out a groan before their vision faded to black.

Everywhere throughout the club spread the carnage of battle. Glass shards lay scattered amongst the bodies that broke them. Hundreds of wine bottles were shattered from the tipped over racks and gallons their alcoholic contents seeping everywhere. The dance floor itself was covered with unconscious bodies and ploughed out troughs from the henchmen he threw into the ground. Walls, speakers, the DJ platform, lighting system above, and the bar; all smashed to pieces.

The henchmen laid unconscious everywhere, Militia dangled haphazardly from the broken lights above, and Melanie slipped out of the wall she crashed into and dropped to the floor.  
He reverted his attention back to his target: the burly man stepping over the remains of the destroyed bar counter hefting a bazooka-bat weapon.  
From the looks of it, it had just recently been fixed too.

"You come into my club uninvited, beat up my men, destroyed all of my drinks, and destroy my club." Junior snarled, "You're going to down, party crasher."

Jaune watched as the man fired a scatter shot of miniature rockets. His scanners immediately detected all the incoming explosive projectiles converging on him. He didn't even need to rely on his system's readings to calculate a counter response. Jaune braced his legs and jumped through the narrow opening.

The rockets struck behind him and he erupted out of the explosion, bounding forward and landed within an arm's length from his target, who had already anticipated his movement and swung his bazooka bat from overhead. Jaune merely flashed out his hand and caught the weapon on its descent. He tightened his hold on the weapon and shattered its bulk with a crunch before lashing out with his other hand and seizing Junior's throat. The sudden jolt of pain and choke forced the club owner to drop his once again broken weapon.

Fear dilated Junior's eyes as he was raised into the air. Breath began to slip from his lungs and his hands shot up to pry himself from the metallic clawed hand to no avail. If his broken weapon indicated anything it was that he _shouldn't_ struggle while his throat was being gripped by being who broken his weapon with his bare hand. He painfully shifted his gaze and looked the stranger in the eye.

"What…do…you…want?" Junior grunted through gnashed teeth.

Jaune stared in silence at the ruffled man struggling in his grasp.

"I need a Bullhead," he replied and lowered the club owner to his eye level, "and I need one _now_."


	4. Chapter III

**Author's note: Based on the reactions in the reviews in the last chapter, I had apparently based it off of themes from Terminator…**

 **THAT WAS COMPLETELY UNINTENTIONAL!**

 **The humanity! The flak! The bittersweet hilarity in hindsight!**

 **Maybe enjoying the Terminator series while growing up had left some sort of plot imprints in my creative process. I would just like to point out that I was not watching any of the Terminator movies while making the last chapter…I was watching RWBY Chibi and playing Star Wars Battlefront 2.**

 **Now that that's out of the way, back to the story.**

* * *

 **Chapter III**

In dining hall at one of the many long tables sat Ruby Rose with her breakfast of milk and cookies. The sole occupant of the entire dining hall. Gentle sunlight had begun to pierce through the hall's windows and bathe everything with its morning glow. With drooping eyelids, Ruby swallowed the cookies she had been munching on and reached for her milk. As soon as she finished gulping it down her forehead pitched forward and landed beside her empty plate. Not even the sugary goodness of cookies nor the nutritional contents of milk could arouse her from her drowsy state. An unconscious groan voiced itself from her throat.

'Why did there have to be a thunderstorm last night?' Ruby's groggy mind murmured.

After running back to their dorm through the rain they set about sorting out their baggage with Team JNPR and went about unpacking. By the time they were finished it was already night time and the thunderstorm outside was in full force. They had all agreed that they would head out to Vale first thing in the morning if the storm eased up. As it turned out, the thunderstorm completely vanished by morning, but rising at the brink of dawn wasn't what made Ruby so painstakingly tired; it was the storm itself!

She already had a hard time falling asleep with all the little bursts of thunder waking her up every once in a while, but then the storm went ahead and seemingly concentrated all of its thunder _directly above_ their dorm.

All. Night. Long.

Ruby begrudgingly reached into her pocket and pulled out her scroll. Lifting her head up and puffing the stray strands of her hair aside, she glanced at her scroll and checked the time. She had exactly five minutes to get to the docking pier before the morning airship to Vale took off. More than enough time even if she activated her semblance along the way. Getting up from the table, Ruby made her way towards the exit to regroup with the rest of her team most definitely already waiting on the airship for her.

'Too bad Team JNPR couldn't come with us.' Ruby thought to herself as she exited the dining hall.

When her and her teammates knocked on their door early in the morning, they were greeted by a fully dressed and groomed Ren. Yang had extended an invitation for their outing, but Ren politely declined and rationalized that his team was incapable at the moment. Jaune and Pyrrha had been in the gymnasium over training to make up for the summer while Nora had been out playing in the storm the entire night. To emphasize his point, Ren angled his body in the doorway so they could peer inside and see for themselves. Pyrrha was sleeping soundly in her bed, Jaune was dressed in his footie pajamas and sprawled out and fast asleep on his, and Nora was curled up on hers and snoring.

Oh how she was so jealous of them.

Light mist lingered in the air outside. Dew clung to the courtyard's muddy grass and shimmered in the eerie sunlight that tried to filter through the thin haze. A scent of natural freshness from the environment reached her nose, spurning Ruby awake ever so slightly. She continued to walk through the puddle dotted courtyard and turned in the direction of the sky pier. Her thoughts slowly began to churn in her sleepy head. Why did they have to get up so early? What were they going to do once they get to Vale? Could they go to the From Dust Till Dawn store? How many hours would they have to spend in fashion stores all because someone saw a cute outfit on display?

Ruby forced back a groan. Whatever they decided to do in Vale they were going to do it as a team. That meant whatever they decided on, no matter how _boring_ it sounded, she would have to go along with it, too. Reaching the main avenue spanning from the courtyard to the cliff side, Ruby began to hasten her steps and prepared to activate her semblance to sprint the last stretch. Thankfully, there was nobody along the avenue blocking her speed. Nobody except a lone figure up ahead dressed in white.

With a leap, Ruby flashed forward, leaving her signature trail of rose pedals fluttering behind her. Everything pitched past her as she sprinted forward. Her well adapted eyes took in all of the surroundings with crystal clear vision. She had to reach the airship before it took off. Despite the mist acting as natural camouflage for the figure in luminescent white, Ruby could still see their outline as she closed in on them. She angled herself so that she would dart directly pass the person and not crash right into them. Now that she had closed in her eyes could see that the person wasn't wearing any white clothes; they wore armor. Awesome armor.

Confused and curious, Ruby tilted her head to catch a full glimpse of the person next to her.

Everything felt as if it transitioned into slow-motion. Ruby's eyes passed over the figure's armored frame. Solid white armor cladded the figure from collarbone to toe. If the tiny blue lights emanating from little patches told her anything, it was that the armor was powered. Open slots in the armor revealed constricted solid masses of black wires weaved beneath the white. Trailing the wires through their body, her eyes glanced past where the wires surged out of the head slot of the armor and attached to a robotic jaw frame and head. Her sight had locked onto the man's single eye showing through a robotic eyepiece, which in return bore straight into hers, even at the high speeds she was running. Her silver eyes widened with recognition.

'Jaune?'

Ruby immediately threw her legs out to break her run, and she would have too had there not been a puddle where she tried braking. Physics took hold and she slipped.

"Whuagh!" Ruby cried as she fell and skidded over the wet avenue. By the time she had stopped bouncing over the ground her leggings were soaked, bits of her cape were drenched, her legs ached, and her butt was sore. None of this mattered to her though and she quickly twisted herself around. Facing her stood the tall armored being, looking upon her with slight concern. She now had a clear view of the stranger's face.

His right half of his face was covered by some sort of helmet, or what was left of one, with its visor lines glowing blue.

Familiar long, blond, scruffy hair sticking out atop his head…

A similar matching cheekbone despite its scar…

The paralleling nose…

His identical blue eye that widened in alarm the same way Jaune's did…

Before she could say anything, the being turned and took off towards Beacon running. Fast.

"Wait!" Ruby cried out and pushed herself up, her legs already moving forward and chasing after him. "Stop!"

Her formerly clouded mind was triggered with all out shock and bewilderment. Questions began rolling through her head as fast as her legs were running. Was that really Jaune?! She just saw him asleep in his footie pajamas this morning! When did he get so tall?! Was this a Jaune-imposter?! That armor looked awesome! Where did he get that armor from?! How did he get that armor?! His body was made of wires! Is he a robot?! Does Penny know him?! Does he know Penny?! Do I know him?! I know he somehow knows me because he's avoiding me! He's getting further away! How is he so fast?!

Ruby activated her semblance and bolted after him. If her curiosity wasn't driving her to chase after this stranger, it was the tugging thought in the back of her head this stranger was about to bring change. Major change.

 _Riiiing! Riiiing!_

Ruby fumbled for her scroll as she ran and nearly dropped it before grasping it firmly. Stealing a quick glance away from her pursuit, she checked to see who was calling.

 _Blake Belladonna._

* * *

Blake sighed as she waited for Ruby to pick up. It was already enough that Ruby went off to have breakfast instead of eating once they got to Vale. Now the airship was on the verge of taking off and their team leader was nowhere on the transport. Blake stood anxiously waiting on the scroll, Weiss stood across from her with her arms folded, and Yang was off buying them time. Finally after a few moments of listening to the scroll ring, Ruby picked up. Blake's acute hearing could detect the rushing of wind coming from the other side of the line.

"HELLO?!" Ruby's voice practically shouted through the speakers, causing Blake to wince and quickly pull the scroll away from her ear. Weiss looked on expectantly while Blake set the call to loudspeaker mode.

"Ruby where are you?" Blake questioned, "The airship is about to take off and Yang can only stall them for so long."

The two huntresses could hear Yang's voice coming from the cockpit they stood beside as she was doing all that she could to prevent the pilots from taking off.

"Ooo, what does this button do? What does _that_ do?" Yang asked the pilots before resorting to delaying them with jokes, "Have you ever heard the one about the pilot whew flew through a rainbow? I heard he passed with flying colors. Oh, what about the kid who studied on a plane for a _higher_ education?"

Weiss groaned and squeezed the bridge of her nose while Blake did her best to ignore her partner's attempts at humor.

"I'M RUNNING THROUGH THE COURTYARD!" Ruby cried out over the call.

"Gee guys," Yang remarked from the cockpit, "don't tell me my flight jokes are _flying_ over your heads..."

Blake cringed at the pun and Weiss moved in closer so her voice could be heard.

"How long until you can get here?" Weiss asked. The only response they received were the distorted shots being fired from Crescent Rose. The two of them exchanged looks of concern before hardening their gaze on the scroll in Blake's hand.

"Ruby what's going on?" Blake demanded in alarm.

"I'm chasing after a Jaune-imposter!" Ruby replied as she ran, "He looks like Jaune but he has a robot body and he's, like, super-fast!"

"A Jaune what?" Weiss repeated with bafflement.

"Hold it right there!" they heard Ruby bark at the person she was chasing after, "I said hold it! No don't-!"

The call suddenly ended. Both Blake and Weiss's eyes widened before they sprang into action. Their leader needed them. Blake bolted towards the exit while Weiss relayed the situation to their fourth team member.

"Yang! Something's happening to Ruby! Let's go!"

A serious expression flashed across her face before she turned to the two pilots and activated her Ember Celica around her wrists.

"I'm here all semester, boys." Yang finished and bolted out of the cockpit. The two pilots turned around in their seats and watched the blonde and the heiress booking it towards the exit behind the girl with the black bow. They exchanged looks between each other.

"I thought the rainbow one was clever…"

"Shut up."

* * *

Jaune quickly closed the giant doors behind him. Thankfully the dining hall was now empty at this time in the morning so he wouldn't attract any more unneeded attention. He positioned himself facing the entrance and backed away slowly. Whenever Ruby came through those doors he would immediate dash out of them before she could even react. A numbing silence filled the atmosphere as he took his final step back and waited.

'Wonderful.' he mentally groaned and berated himself.

He shouldn't have taken the main avenue because he wanted to relive his memory of Beacon. He shouldn't have been caught up in so much nostalgia that he failed to react when his systems detected a person approaching at rocketing speeds, much less make eye contact with the past-version of his best friend. He shouldn't have looked back to see if Ruby was okay when she slipped on that puddle and stood there long enough for her to recognize him. He knew she would recognize his facial features, and his theory became fact when she chased after him.

His speed still outclassed the past version of Ruby by a long shot, but he forgot about her habitual tendency of using Crescent Rose as a booster when she needed; the Ruby he knew had no need for her weapon's recoil boost and could easily outrun him by miles.

The past-version of Ruby had made use of Crescent Rose and propelled herself forward and managed to block off his escape route. His eyes had immediately darted to her scroll in her hand and his auditory sensors detected Weiss's voice on the line. She was probably calling in the rest of Team RWBY to help her pursue him. That would definitely get rid of his secrecy and throw everything out of proportion. So he acted. He shot forward faster than she could react, snatched her scroll out of her fingers, crunched the device in his grasp, and sprinted off as she reeled from what transpired.

Jaune's mind disputed his choice of action as he continued to focus his stare on the dining hall doors. He had broken her scroll out of reluctance; the fewer that knew of his presence the better. Knowing Ruby, however, she wouldn't relent in her pursuit just because of a broken scroll. The realization of his action dawned upon him: he _broke_ her scroll.

His systems detected movement.

Jaune snapped to his left just in time to see Ruby crash through one of the dining hall's giant paned windows wielding Crescent Rose in its scythe form. He leapt backwards to avoid the hail of glass shards as Ruby landed on one of the tables and broke it from impact. Undeterred, Ruby glared at him with unbridled irritation.

"You broke my scroll!" Ruby growled loud enough for him to hear angled her scythe at him, "You. Will. Pay."

He knew she meant that she would make him pay in lien, but he had no time to humor her, he had a mission to do. He pivoted and ran out the doors in seconds. Half a second later through the doorframe came the red cyclone blur that was Ruby. The speed vacuum left in her wake caused half of the dining hall tables that she ran by to be sucked into the vacuum and fly crashing into the dining hall doors.

Jaune ran faster in attempt to lose Ruby behind him. He had to lose her before he could continue his mission. In fact, his systems identified three other beings nearby, one standing directly in front of his path. Up ahead he could see Yang Xiao Long standing directly in his way with her Ember Celica loaded and ready.

Yang narrowed her brow and smiled, rearing her head back and preparing to heat-butt the stranger Ruby was chasing after. Bracing herself for the incoming figure, she thrusted her head forward to stop him in his tracks. Except he didn't stop; the stranger did a running flip over her and took off in his original direction once he landed. Yang quickly spun around and gave chase. Behind her ran Weiss and Blake and catching up beside her rushed Ruby with Crescent Rose.

"Ruby, who is this guy?" Yang questioned as they gave chase.

"I don't know, but he looks like Jaune and he broke my scroll!" Ruby exclaimed before firing off a sniper round and recoiling forward.

* * *

Jaune slowed down his spend enough to not break down the Amphitheater's doors and ran into the enormous convex room. He only had seconds before the rest of Team RWBY followed in and had to come up with a route to shake them off. Despite his general knowledge of Beacon's layout being vaguely recollected in his mind, his cybernetic enhancements sharped what little knowledge he remembered and transmitted them into conscientious thoughts. Beacon's entire layout retained to him like an idle thought. When the Amphitheater's main doors flew open, he was already running towards the nearest exit.

Suddenly a white glyph appeared between him and the exit. He slid to a halt before running straight into the rebounding glyph and snapped his sights on the caster.

Weiss stood stoically with Myrtenaster outstretched and pointed at him, it's Dust chambers revolving at the ready. Ruby, Blake, and Yang were running right for him with their weapons drawn. Jaune immediately bounded up to the upper seats and ran along the edge of the stands to the next exit.

"Oh no you don't!" Yang called out, pumping her gauntlets out. Blake simultaneously drew her Gambol Shroud and the two started firing at him. Jaune easily dodged and weaved through the hail fire of blasts and Dust rounds that tore up the stands. One of the blasts from Ember Celica punctured a sizable hole into the wall, letting in the outside air and sunlight. Seeing that Ruby had already positioned herself blocking off his other exit, he shifted direction and shot towards the makeshift exit, avoiding the gunfire from Blake and Yang. A second later and he dove through the breakage and escaped.

"Split up! We'll cover more ground and corner him from all angles!" Ruby ordered as they ran out of the torn up Amphitheater.

"Dibs!" Yang declared as she gave chase while Blake, Ruby and Weiss split off into two different directions across the campus.

* * *

Yang barged into the Library and scanned the massive hall. Just had managed to tail behind the mysterious Jaune-looking stranger by a good few seconds at her full speed. Running into Beacon's campus buildings, she quickly weaved through the hallways of Beacon, eventually chasing him down into the Library. Now she cased the empty library hall with her gauntlets ready. The disturbed atmosphere that muffled the massive chamber and the lacking sound of distant footfalls told her that he had to be in here. She could feel it.

"Awe, what's the matter handsome?" Yang goaded coyly, "Don't be shy."

Her voice echoed all over the Library and rebounded off the far corners of the chamber. She tightened her knuckles with anticipation and casted her glance about the place. A devilish grin spread across her face as she walked down the center.

"I promise not to bite." Yang cooed mischievously and cocked her gauntlets.

From a nearby shadow peering around the corner of one of the massive bookshelves monitored a pair of enhanced blue eyes. He had little time before she would spot his position. He could try to dash out the closest exit without her even hearing his movement, but the library's naturally amplifying vibe and the total silence of the room would give away any sound that he made. He watched as Yang's eyes obliviously passed over his hiding spot and she rotated until he could see her complete backside.

Energy output increased through his body; he had been spotted.

Yang flashed around and fired a blast directly at him. Her target evaded the shot by quickly dashing way. The blast exploded in the spot where he was a moment before and its impact sent the nearby books placed on the shelves flying everywhere. Yang wasn't paying attention to the collateral damage and instead was trying to track the vague white shadow that was her objective. She ran down the Library punching out blasts from her gauntlets through the shelf aisles, angling her shots so that they would hit in the front of the target's anticipated path. Said target, however, moved faster and the kinetic blasts only blew more scorched holes in the walls and scattered dozens of more books. A quick glance aside as she fired told Yang that he was running for the exit. Reeling her fists back, Yang let out a fierce cry and lugged her two gauntlets forward and sent a fiery lob of energy blazing towards the exit. Her target saw the projectile and slowed his pace. The too-soon two-punch combo shot blew open the Library's exit doors and charred them.

Yang watched the figure in white dash forward, kick off one of the opened singed doors, and take off into the hallway. Already ahead, Yang pulled out her scroll as she rushed after him through the hallways.

"Weiss, Ruby, he's heading your way." Yang reported on the group call, throwing her other fist back to launch herself from her gauntlet's recoil.

* * *

Weiss continued to summon her glyphs beneath her heels as she ran through the hall. Beside her tagged along Ruby due to her no longer having a scroll and being able to communicate between them without it. Yang hadn't managed to catch the robotic Jaune lookalike, but she was able to force him in their direction. Rounding a corner, Weiss skidded to a halt at the sight of their pursuit barreling at them through the hall full speed. Ruby, on the other hand, activated her semblance and shot forward head on.

Right as it seemed like they were about to collide with each other, the robotic being dodged to the side, causing Ruby to offshoot completely and speed past. She quickly transformed Crescent Rose into its scythe form and dug the blade into the floor. The blade carved a deep gash into the hall's tile floor before anchoring. Holding on tight, Ruby let herself be flung around with her momentum acting as a boost. Now she tailed after him with her semblance in full effect.

Weiss only had moments before the robotic Jaune reached her. She quickly plunged Myrtenaster set to ice Dust into a glyph she summoned beneath her and a thick wall of solid ice blockaded the entire width of the hallway in front of her.

It only lasted a second.

The barricade of ice completely shattered with a sharp grating crack from force crashing through it. Gigantic ice shards rained down everywhere and imbedded themselves into the hall's surroundings. By the time the whitely dressed heiress lowered her arms from defending against the sleet and glanced around the corner, their query was already taking off. Weiss gave chase while Ruby shot ahead from her side. Running on her propulsion glyphs to keep up, she began to lash out with barrier glyphs in front of the fleeing suspect. To her frustration, he sidestepped every single one of the glyphs she placed in front of him, dodging in and out between the glyphs. Unfortunately, Ruby didn't have as fast of a reaction time as their pursuit, and it didn't help that she was running aligned to him either. One missed reflex to evade was all that it took to cause Ruby to run face first into one of Weiss's glyphs.

The red reaper grunted as the glyph's force decelerated her entirely and flung her backwards at the same speed. She soared through the air in the opposite direction.

"Weiiiss!" Ruby snapped as she flew high over her teammate. Weiss ceased to pursue and skidded to a halt to make sure Ruby was alright. She turned her head around just in time to see Ruby topple to a heap on the floor. Ruby sat up groaning in a daze.

"Why Weiss?" Ruby groaned.

Weiss rolled her eyes.

"You got in the way!" Weiss defended, "It's not my fault that you ran straight into it."

"Why do you betray me so?" Ruby gurgled.

Weiss let out an irritated sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose with her free hand. Ignoring her stunned teammate on the ground, Weiss pulled out her scroll and resumed talking on the group call.

"Blake, we sent him towards you," Weiss reported, "we'll get into position."

"Right." Blake's voice confirmed.

* * *

Jaune stormed into the ballroom with frustration etched in his face. Slowing down, he came to a graceful stop in the middle of the room. His attempts to outrun Team RWBY have been surprisingly successful, as evident with the lack of anyone tailing behind him, but it just didn't add up. He was sure that they were hunting him throughout Beacon but it would seem appropriate that they wouldn't cease. Yet he had seemingly shaken off three members of Team RWBY, one of renowned for her speed, and now stood in the ballroom without anyone following him. Did he accomplish his goal of losing them?

Jaune activated his long-ranged sensors and scanned the area; no movement outside of the ballroom. His mind immediately reverted back to his intended mission of reaching Professor Ozpin. Despite trying to keep his presence with the past to a bare minimum, it was necessary for him to reveal himself to Ozpin in order to allow his mission to proceed without interruption. Hopefully the Professor would be understanding. Using the layout schematics in his memory, Jaune began plotting the quickest route to Ozpin's office towering above Beacon's campus. He would have to evade the four members of Team RWBY along the way in order to avoid unnecessary collateral.

Speaking of the members of Team RWBY, where did Blake-?

Motion detected.

Jaune lurched out of the way of Gambol Shroud's ribbon trying to wrap itself around him. More flips and agile elusions followed as Gambol Shroud lashed out and swiped at him from twisting angles. A duck and a somersault later and Jaune bounded off his hands and pushed himself into the air. Landing on the second floor's railing, he peered down at Blake retracting her weapon to her hand and aiming down the barrel at him. Her yellow eyes bore straight into his blues.

"Who are you?" Blake demanded cautiously.

Jaune's response was a dash to the side heading towards the ballroom's balcony. Blake acted immediately and began firing Gambol Shroud along his path. Dust rounds whizzed behind him as he ran, shattering chunks out of the ballroom's window panes as they failed to reach him in time. Blake continued to fire as she leapt to intercept.

Landing directly in his path, Blake swiped at him with her blades. Jaune didn't even slow down as he ran towards the slashing blades. Instead, he arched backwards and dropped to his knees, his momentum and speed sliding him forward beneath the blades. The blades passing mere inches over his face, Jaune pitched forward and took off towards the balcony. Meanwhile, one of Blake' swipes connected with one of the pillars supporting the ceiling and cleanly sheared straight through it. She turned around just in time to see the cybernetic being bolt out to the second floor balcony.

"Guys, get ready." Blake instructed on her scroll as she followed out of the balcony and jumped off its edge in chase, completely missing the creaking of a section of the ballroom ceiling give out due to lack of support.

* * *

The morning sun had finally unraveled the fog over the campus and slowly start to warm up the cool air. Now fully illuminated, Jaune had no cover whatsoever to fade in and out of with his armor. He was, essentially, out in the open. His sensors could detect Blake chasing after him from behind. He had jumped off the ballroom balcony and began running through the campus gardens. The shadow-like faunus girl, however, was unrelenting and followed at full speed. Exiting the out of the fresh gardens, he quickened his pace as he ran down the path leading back to the courtyard.

This whole chase was becoming ridiculous. Right when it seemed that he had lost whomever was pursuing him another would show up to continue the routine. Not to mention all the damage that they were causing around the academy in their attempts to stop him. At this rate, Beacon would be reduced to rubble before he could even save it. Upcoming ahead was the courtyard. From there Jaune could work his way around Beacon once more in attempt of shaking the past versions of the Huntresses off of him.

Or at least he would have done so had his systems not identified three contacts ahead converging on his position. It suddenly clicked in Jaune's mind: he hadn't been evading them this whole time, they had been leading him into a trap. Realizing what was happening, Jaune slowed his pace and came to a halt in the middle of the courtyard, just as all four members of Team RWBY surrounded him. Showing the slightest signs of windedness, the four girls stood their ground on all sides. Jaune slowly panned his stare at the past versions of his friends. He had not taken account of Team RWBY's capabilities of adaptable tenacity and counteraction.

"We have you surrounded!" Ruby declared with Crescent Rose's sniper barrel aimed directly at him.

"Nowhere to run!" Yang jeered and kept her gauntlets facing and leveled at him.

"Who, exactly, are _you_?" Weiss confronted as Myrtenaster locked in its Dust chambers.

The cybernetic knight's vision displays were analyzing and calculating statistics as he slowly analyzed them. Based off the data he was receiving, they were too close together for him to escape. Unless he used his full speed, he wouldn't be able to run past them without avoiding some sort of clash, but he didn't want to unless it was absolutely necessary. He had wanted to avoid a confrontation at all costs but now had no choice. If he acted swift enough, he could quickly engage them and escape. His resolve was established.

Slowly, Jaune lifted his cybernetic hand up and his claws grasped around the handle of the sword sheathed on his back.

The girls tightened their grips on their weapons and steadied themselves.

Cold determination faced off against firm resolutions.

His sensors detected a fifth person approaching.

Suddenly, he could feel all of his limbs seize up from an unknown force and his body being compressed into immobility. A purple glow had encased his entire body. Any effort to move his body was met with futility and the pressuring force amplified more. Jaune's eyes widened as he watched his hand that had reached for his sword contort itself and felt his body lift up into the air. His couldn't move a single fiber cord in his neck to face the newcomer and was forced to look up into the clear morning sky above. After rising high enough, precisely five feet according to his systems, he felt his incapacitated body turn around and his field of vision land on the person in control.

"Professor Goodwitch!" Team RWBY exclaimed, focusing their attention on the Combat Instructor.

Professor Goodwitch jutted her two fingers at the cybernetic being, keeping him encased by her telekinetic semblance channeling through her extended riding crop. She stood stoic in her everyday attire, but her eyes were tinted with severity. Her sharpened glower behind her glasses ceased to deviate as her stern voice began to speak.

"Girls, leave us." the light-blonde professor ordered calmly.

"But Professor, we had him!" Ruby whined. One intense glare from the professor rebuked all of her arguments and left Ruby sinking her head between her shoulders with timidity. Even the three other members of Team RWBY could feel Glynda's stringent demeanor wash away their enthusiasm. To make matters worse, Glynda casted her harsh grimace over all of them.

"This matter now falls under the authority of Beacon's staff and security," Glynda explained, her voice harboring no signs of sympathy, "I will not jeopardize the safety of the academy because four Huntresses-in-training desire to deal with an unknown threat on their own."

"If I were a threat, none of you would be having this conversation right now." Jaune finally spoke for all of them to hear.

All of the five ladies' jaws dropped upon hearing his voice. It was laced with durability, calloused by time and had traces of synthetization seeping into it, but his vocals still held the same raspy, light pitched tone that belong to the clumsy knight they all knew. The similarities were undeniable.

"Mr. Arc?" Professor Goodwitch gasped.

"Jaune?!" Team RWBY exclaimed. Amidst the shock, only Ruby began babbling out questions in efforts to make sense of the situation.

"Wha?! But..?! H-how?! Y-your…Jaune?!"

Jaune internally grimaced at the sound of his name; now they all knew his identity. Although he wasn't quite sure what amount of distortion had occurred, it was too late to prevent it now. He could, at best, proceed with his mission with the hopes of not indulging any more risks. His vision locked with confused green eyes of Professor Goodwitch.

"Take me to Ozpin and I will explain everything." Jaune offered to the older woman.

Professor Goodwitch regarded him with scrutinizing skepticism. A few moments passed before she composed herself and waved off the purple telekinesis surrounding him. Jaune reoriented himself midair and landed upright on the ground. Everyone involuntarily held their breath as the now-free Jaune touched down and mentally braced themselves for him to either lash out or run away. He didn't. Ignoring the still flabbergasted Team RWBY, Jaune solemnly approached Professor Goodwitch. She casted him an implacable glare before turning on her heels and heading for the Beacon Tower. As the two of them walked, Jaune's systems detected that Team RWBY had begun to fall in step behind them. Professor Goodwitch had already turned to face them before he could do so himself.

"Ladies, I want all of the damage you managed to cause cleaned up by the end of the day." Goodwitch ordered. All of RWBY stopped in their steps and realized the implications in her words. All of the immense property damage they dealt while trying to catch this cybernetic Jaune...

All four girls were taken aback.

"But…" Weiss fumbled.

"Dismissed." Professor Goodwitch declared and crisply turned about and continued her path with Jaune following behind. The four of them watched the duo leave, their minds either reeling from the fact that there was now a cybernetic Jaune or dismayed by the fact that they had to clean up everything that they destroyed. It was then Ruby realized she forgot to say something.

"Wait!" Ruby called out, "Jaune!"

The cybernetic Jaune stopped and craned his head back to see her.

"You owe me a new scroll!" Ruby stated. She expected him to response with something clever or maybe even agree to her statement. Instead, his stoic face maintained its gaze on her for a few moments before turning away and resumed walking. Ruby slumped in disappointment; at least he didn't say no?

"Sooo…" Yang's voice broke the silence with flat out bluntness, "Aside from our morning being ruined with cleanup duty, I think he's attractive."

"If you even think I find him remotely attractive, you and I are clearly on the wrong page." Weiss rebutted coldly.

"I never said you did Weiss." Yang shot back knowingly. The heiress's eye twitched in response. The fact that Weiss's checks took on a slight red hue did nothing to reinforce her statement whatsoever.

"I guess Jaune finally won you over after all." Ruby teased. "I don't blame you though, that armor suits him well."

"Quiet you!"

"You're not denying it." Yang added coyly.

"Hush!"

"I will admit that he's easy on the eyes."

"You too Blake?!"

* * *

 **Author's note: Future Jaune x harem anyone? Eh? Eh?**

 **…**

 **Yeah no, not happening.**

 **In regards to other news, I now have a day job. I'll be doing my best to keep up with my writings as best as I can though. Hopefully I can get this story done before Volume Four is released…but that would mean I would have to rush this work…and that would most certainly plunge the quality of this story. Hmm. Decisions.**

 **Right now I'm going to get some typing done and re-watch more RWBY Chibi.**

 **Oh, and be sure to check out dishwasher1910's latest work of Future Ruby! Its detail is precise and it is awesomely epic.**

 **And to those who pray, please pray for the victims of the recent Orlando shooting, their families, and all suffering from terrorism. Thank you.**


	5. Chapter IV

**Author's note: I feel I should state that my little quip about the Future Jaune x harem was only that: a quip. This story will not be a harem story whatsoever.**

 **Y'all are welcomed to make use of it for the sake of hilarity though!**

 **Before we delve back into the story, I just want to point out that these next few chapters will be rather lull in comparison to the previous ones with action. All in the name of story building, I promise. Just a heads up.**

 **And now we return to our irregular scheduled program.**

* * *

 **Chapter IV**

High above the grounds of Beacon loomed the symbolic relay of the CCT fashioned into a tower of elegant design. The massive cogs and mechanisms that lay within quietly ticked away as they twisted and revolved with one another. Now that the sun was out, the tower's emerald hue shine melted with the natural rays of light, dimming the glowing beacon orbs into an eye-warming visual. Beneath all of this rested a panel office room with a view of far and wide in all directions.  
Within it stood a spry old man resting an elaborate and mysterious cane in one hand and a mug of fresh brew in the other.

Ozpin gazed out the window and regarded the distant scenery and buildings of Vale. A tinge of irritation crossed his mind; try as one might, it would be delusional for a person to completely dismiss the sight of the Atlesian air fleet hovering throughout the skies over the city. A rather rash action on the behalf of the General James Ironwood, yes, but one that they must now deal with since the Council of Vale had officially placed the Atlesian military in charge. A hollow exhale escaped through his nostrils as he downed another sip of his brew. He understood James's concern and reason for doing what he did, but that does not dismiss the fact that he may or may not have complicated things even further in their unseen intricate war against the Queen.

In regards to complications, the Headmaster lowered his glance down at the academy grounds below. He of course had seen all that had transpired: a private bullhead touching down, a mysterious figure approaching, said figure being chased by Miss Ruby Rose, and the entire pursuit of him by Team RWBY throughout the campus.

A brief smile crept to his lips. It was amusing to see Team RWBY's efforts to hunt down this stranger and even more rewarding seeing their trap had actually worked before Glynda intercepted accordingly. Despite the immense property damage caused, the whole incident gave Ozpin an insight to the newcomer's abilities. His form, his steps, his movements. Years have taught Ozpin how to observe and potentially gauge one's abilities and skill; and whoever this stranger was he was _severely_ downplaying himself when Team RWBY gave chase. Unanswered questions jostled his mind.

He had never seen anyone like this stranger before. Who was he?

The stranger had, thankfully, not attacked anyone upon initial encounters or resist when Glynda subdued him. What were his intentions?

The cogs and gears ticked steadily as time passed by. What on Remnant was taking them so long to reach him?

 _Ding!_

The Professor gracefully turned around to see the elevator doors open and reveal his two expected guests. The stranger in question was the first to exit the elevator with Glynda stepping out behind him.

"Sorry for the delay," Glynda spoke, "some fool pushed all of the buttons before we got on."

That explained the delayed arrival. He immediately noted that the part of the stranger's visible face bore resemblance to that of Jaune Arc's and configured that his entire body was cybernetic based on the thick masses of intertwined wires that composed of his skin. Many questions spawned silently in his mind.

"Thank you Glynda." Ozpin nodded towards his assistant who now stood silently beside his desk. The inquisitive look on her face told him that she too had questions. Before he could say anything, the stranger standing in front of his desk spoke.

"It's good to see you again, Professor Ozpin." he said tentatively and glanced in Glynda's direction, "And you as well, Professor Goodwitch."

Glynda remained stoic while the Headmaster slightly tilted his head in confusion.

"I do not believe we have met yet." Ozpin corrected.

"Technically, we have already," was the response, "but for the sake of clarity, you have never met _me_ before."

Ozpin took another sip from his mug before he placed it down on his desk.

"And who are you, exactly?"

"He claims to be Jaune Arc," Glynda answered frankly and crossed her arms, "but I find that highly doubtful seeing that Mr. Arc is an enrolled student here."

"I am from the future." was the candid response.

Stillness fell upon the three of them. The cybernetic man stood unmoving and waited for a response from the two; Glynda's eyes widened and her jaw dropped; and Ozpin's face remained unchanged as his mind sought to process everything. Based on his appearance and voice, he could definitely see and hear the resemblance between this walking metallic being that stood before him and the clumsy Hunter-in-training that was Jaune Arc. If he was telling the truth, then that meant…

Ozpin leaned his cane against the desk and calmly sat down in his conspicuously looking gear chair. Slowly, he brought his elbows up to the table and folded his fingers together across the ridge of his nose.

"Would you care to explain?" Ozpin questioned politely.

Jaune nodded. He had expected Ozpin to interrogate him over the authenticity to his claim and even prepared to reveal that his transcripts were forged and call Ozpin out on it. Seeing that the Professor reacted collected and was willing to listen gave him some confidence that his words would not be dismissed as mere tales. He only hoped it would remain that way once he told them what needed to be said.

"Twenty years from now, Altesian Scientists complete Project: Continuum, a project designed to warp the Space-Time continuum and send a person into the past to change the future. Upon completion, I volunteered and was sent back in time to save the future."

"From what?" Glynda asked.

"Destitution." Jaune answered tactlessly, "All of Remnant is brought to ruin because of the events that occur at this upcoming Vytal Festival. For the sake of all human and faunus kind, I am here to prevent all of it from ever happening."

"And…what events might those be?" Ozpin asked wearily.

"The events leading up to the Battle of Beacon." Jaune state. Glynda's strict persona faltered and her hands dropped to her sides, her eyes widened and mouth agape. Ozpin's facial expression mirror Glynda's but soon was replaced with steadfast seriousness. Whether or not he was telling the truth, the possibility of a battle taking place at Beacon was a reason for serious alert. Especially if it meant that all that he was doing would accumulate into an all-out battle in the end. Ozpin tightened his jaw and adjusted his shaded glasses.

"Explain." the Headmaster grimly ordered. Jaune unemotionally complied.

"Due to General Ironwood's hasty action of bringing the Atlesian air fleet to Vale and your discreet passiveness, Professor Ozpin, the enemy exploits both of your methods and manipulates the Vytal Festival, paving way for an entire Grimm invasion backed by the White Fang."

The morning's angelic atmosphere suddenly darkened in office room. Ozpin's forehead slowly dipped and settled on top of his fingers, his eyes shut tightly and his fingers grasping each other firmly. His healthy appearance suddenly seemed to pale into the age that he was. All that he had done...everything they've worked to accomplish...for nothing? He could easily disagree with him and dismiss all that he was told as false information, but what kind of person would he be if he ignored vital information given to him simply because it didn't agree with him? Ozpin let out a quiet breath as he felt the surmounting stress weigh down on his being.

Jaune noted that for someone being told that all of what they feared and strived to prevent would come true thanks to their own doing, he was taking it rather well, contradictory to how he had thought Ozpin would react. Glynda, surprisingly, managed to shake herself out of her stupor and began confronting the issue while Ozpin sought to regain himself.

"If what you are saying is true, then how can we prevent it from happening?" Glynda asked, her voice softening in tone but urgent in sound.

"That is why I am here." Jaune answered, "I know everything that is going to happen and can take preventative measures to ensure that it never does."

"But you refuse to tell us about these events." Ozpin pointed out and finally opened his eyes, staring directly at Jaune with his regained composure.

"Yes." Jaune answered concisely, "Are you aware of the theories revolving around the Space-Time continuum?"

"If you are truly from the future, Mr. Arc, then I am sure you are aware of my semblance, correct?"

"Of course, then you understand why I cannot simply convey all of this information at once."

"I'm afraid I do not follow…" Glynda remarked.

"If I reveal too much at once, it could have a sudden disruptive effect on the Space-Time continuum," Jaune explained, "if that were to happen then reality itself may become too distorted and break; not to mention that it would most likely erase or alter my existence entirely."

"That is why you ran from Team RWBY…" Ozpin mused.

"Yes, the less people that know of my presence the better chance we have at transgressing the future more smoothly."

"If you are going by that logic and theory, then you understand that if we are successful you may fade out of existence."

Silence then fell upon Jaune, reversing the standpoint between him and the two professors. A moment passed before they watched his face knotted into seriousness and his clawed fingers balled into a fist. He had made up his mind.

"If it means that all of the millions of lives can be saved, then I am willing to accept it." Jaune replied gravelly, "Rest assure that I do not plan to keep you in the dark about this matter, Professor, I will reveal to you what I know when I can confirm that it will not have any catastrophic consequences to reality."

Ozpin nodded before rising from his chair and grabbing his cane. Centering himself, he looked to Jaune with understanding empathy. Jaune met his gaze squarely in the eye.

"Then we are at an agreement Mr. Arc," Ozpin affirmed, "and seeing that you have already introduced yourself to some of our students, please feel free to mingle about with them. I am sure you would wish to keep a close watch on how events play out, correct?"

"Originally, I would have disagreed with you Professor," Jaune reasoned, "but seeing that I have already made contact with Team RWBY, it would be best to monitor them and insure that my presence does not cause any more drastic alterations."

"Well said Jaune." Ozpin noted. For a moment, he could have sworn he saw the cybernetic knight before him perk up at his remark, but the mechanical parts on him restricted any signs of reaction. "When it is safe, will you be willing to share these events with us so we may circumvent them?"

"Of course, Professor, in due time," Jaune promised before glancing slightly towards the elevator. "May I go now?"

"Yes, you may," Ozpin assured, "please keep in touch."

"Of course Professor."

The two teachers watched the knight enter the elevator and leave the office. Once gone, they were left with the lingering haze of questions that still filled their mind. Some were answered, many more remained unasked. Knowingly, Ozpin let out a heavy sigh and turned to his assistant, meeting her questioning gaze. This had been a very unexpected day so far.

"Do you think he is who he says he is?" Glynda asked.

"We can keep an eye on him throughout the campus." Ozpin assured and moved behind his chair. "If he is telling the truth, however, then we need to take all precautions to prevent the future he told us about."

"I still remain skeptical about that, too. Are you sure he is from the future?"

"A man possessing untold skill with a fully cybernetic body far beyond General Ironwood's makes his way to Beacon, offers no resistance when you apprehend him, and seeks me out to help prevent a future disaster." Ozpin retraced with slight humor in his voice and glanced over at his assistant, "Sounds almost as farfetched as a fairy tale."

Glynda rolled her eyes. Sometimes her boss was too foreboding for his own good.  
Plus, given his specialty with time and its inner details, she trusted that Ozpin knew what he was doing.

"How can even we prevent something that we have no idea of?" she wondered, "He said it himself: he cannot tell us everything at once less we risk the collapse of reality."

"Then we would have to put that theory to the test," Ozpin muttered and shifted his eyes back out the window, his mind trying to organize everything that he had been told, "and I believe Mr. Arc may do just that; there are only so many places he can go on campus, after all."

* * *

Silence. Silence and the quiet hum of the elevator as it descended. He did not speak his thoughts aloud out of habit, enemies sometimes could hear. However, there were no enemies here, just the students of Beacon and the Professors he had allied with. The first part of his mission was completed.

Jaune felt the metaphorical weight lift off his chest and a flood of relief pass through him before it was sapped away. He had made contact with Ozpin who was willing to listen to his story. It was imperative that he should reach out to him first, seeing that the Professor was the head of his secret faction. Not to mention that he would most likely be the only one to believe his story. He thought back to Ozpin and Glynda, two of his mentors he hadn't seen in over 20 years. The mere sight of the two brought back dear memories from so long ago and made him think back to a time when he was a naïve, blundering teenager who had faked his way into Beacon. Perhaps he should have lessened his demeanor when he spoke to them…

A tinge of regret was purged from his mind as fast as it entered. What was done was done; he needed to move forward. His mental networks were already backtracking through processed events and formulating calculations. He had established contact with Ozpin and made him aware of the future events to come.

Additionally, yet unintentionally, he realized that his combat systems had been putting together counter moves against Glynda's telekinesis and had already created and filed two escape routes to Team RWBY's earlier trap. He mentally ignored his combat system's automatic data response and focused on the data regarding his mission. Now all he had to do was to wait for a more appropriate time to reveal all that will soon happen and monitor what possible effects his presence in the past had on reality. Starting with tracking down Team RWBY and overseeing what consequences his presence had caused.

He was then torn between the two choices of either accompanying the girls to monitor them from afar or to monitor them through interaction. Doing the first option would risk less chances of drastic continuum changes, but he wouldn't be able to prevent any reality bending consequences because of his inaction; doing the second one would undoubtingly cause some sort of temporal change, but at least he would be able to monitor it more closely and circumvent any changes via interaction.

Sensors detected four people standing outside of the sliding doors as the elevator chimed to a stop. While his current augmentations could not identify who they were, something which the more upgraded systems could do instantly, Jaune reasoned that he would have to put up an ignorant, brooding façade and quickly walk past them to avoid drawing too much attention. Hopefully whoever they were would simply write him off as moody and move on.

The elevator doors slid opened. Jaune's visible eye widened.

Destiny had decided to bring his objectives straight to him…

"Heya handsome!" the boisterous blonde greeted and waved. The girls all stared at him with expected looks with their weapons were put away this time around.  
Jaune had half the mind to simply wait for the elevator doors to close.

"Sorry about chasing you down this morning," Ruby apologized and began to rock on her boots, "first I noticed that you had cool armor…then I realized you looked like one of my friends…and then you ran…and…"

Jaune stepped out of the elevator and approached within arm's length of the group, causing Ruby's voice to die completely into a mumble. He figured he should at least say something to alleviate some of his intimidation stature. Standing at roughly over seven and a half feet tall, easily towering over everyone he had encountered, was surely imposing to anyone.

"Shouldn't you four be off cleaning up the campus?" Jaune finally responded coldly and shifted his gaze between the four of them. His voice seemed to snap them all out of some sort of trance, seeing that all of them reverted back to their regular personalities that he remembered them by.

"Pssh, we got all of that taken care of." Yang waved off nonchalantly. He was about to ask how they managed to fix up everything in such little time, but then he realized how much time had passed: the morning was about to turn into noon. That elevator ride up was really prolonged…

"You have some questions to answer mister." Weiss dictated.

"Yeah, like, are you really…you know, Jaune?" Ruby pondered aloud. Jaune's eye stared down at the silver-eyed girl, who instead of shriveling up met his eyes with curiosity. The three other girls had the same expressions too.

"Yes, I am Jaune Arc," he confirmed, "I am from the future."

"Hah! I knew it!" Yang boasted proudly. As the girls took in that information, Jaune checked his sensor readings. No signs of temporal anomalies. His systems and memories were intact. No change in personality or mental processes as far as he was aware of. Everything was stable.

"I am sure you have questions, but I must limit what I share." Jaune clarified.

"How come?" Weiss complained.

"Because if he reveals too much he could alter the fabric of reality and cause an unstable plane of existence." Blake finally spoke up, gaining all of their attention.

"Oh my gosh, you're right!" Ruby acknowledged.

"I'm…not following you Blake." Yang refuted.

"Me either." Weiss added.

"If he were to reveal too much information about the future, it could change the future where he came from and thus change the version of himself in front of us now and possibly cause temporal damage to reality." Blake explained.  
Yang and Weiss simultaneously gave the Faunus girl dumbfounded looks. Jaune stoically stared at her too, not out of disbelief, but due to the fact that she knew about this. Blake noted their looks and folded her arms.

Blake shrugged, "It's a common plot theme in time travelling stories."

"Comics and movies too!" Ruby added cheerfully.

Jaune nodded in agreement before stepping forward and brushing through the middle of them for an unknown destination.

Somewhere. Anywhere. Every corner and angle of Beacon his eyes saw and scanners picked up started to reawaken memories by the droves. He needed time to process. He needed time to remember. Wherever he intended to go, Team RWBY would soon join him too, seeing that his sensors detected the four of them following close behind.

Each of the walked without a word, the four girls exchanging looks and wondering who should say something first. Finally, Yang was the one to break the silence.

"Soo Jaune," Yang began and gestured at him, "where'd ya get that body from?"

"Yang!" Weiss scolded.

"It's an honest question." the blonde fighter shrugged.

"Kinda was wondering that, too." Ruby mentioned.

"I'm going to take a guess and say Atlas, right?" Weiss assumed.

"Yes." he responded low and curtly. His tone and volume sharply contrasted the cheerful atmosphere that lingered about Team RWBY and immediately shut down the conversation. Taking note of this, Team RWBY exchanged looks again, and again Yang spoke first.

"What happen to you?" Yang asked, her question rewarding her with his stare, "It's like you're as quiet as Blake and whenever you talk you're as cold as Weiss."  
Yang's eyes widened and tried not to laugh at the unintentional pun while Weiss snapped with an indignant 'Hey!' and Blake and Ruby groaned.

Unlike the rest of them, Jaune felt taken aback by mirth. It had been years since he heard one of Yang Xiao Long's infamous puns. As soon as he felt it though, the joy was diminished and his mindset returned to normal.

"Apologies for my apparent shift in behavior from the Jaune you know, the unimaginable horrors seen and losses I've suffered are to blame."

 _That_ definitely quashed the merry intention of their conversation, but Yang wasn't going to let that stop her from honing the conversation around. She playfully nudged his arm and ignored the fact that the armored limb neither swayed or budged from her bump.

"Ease up Jaune, you're with us now!" Yang reasoned.

Jaune averted his gaze and blinked ahead while his mind began to process her words. Years of warfare and duty had molded his awkward personality a ruthless mentality of stoicism and rigor even before his body was warped into the massive machine that he was now. Fending off hordes of Grimm unimaginable to humanity; coordinating forces in the midst of a battle knowing that one slip up on his behalf would result in lives lost and utter defeat; seeing Hunters and Huntresses cut down beside him; constant vigilance against assassination attempts that could, and did, happen at any time.

It was the same ruthless mentality he harbored when he found himself standing in the past. A mindset of a war-torn future mingling with the fluctuant peaceful present. The same mentality that had resurfaced when he fought the several Ursai Majors upon arrival and the same one when he stormed Junior's club soon after. To be fair, those hitmen and bouncers were preventing him from his objective; he merely took the most reasonable approach that they would understand and guaranteed his intended goal. Too much is at stake to be left for chances. But now? Now that he had reached out to Ozpin and was officially in Beacon, could he allow himself to ease up? Was his centurion view on matters unnecessary at this point?

"Is the future really that bad?" Ruby wondered naively. Remembrance of everything and why he was here brought a firm answer to his unspoken questions: yes, all of it was necessary.

"Worse," he replied grimly, "that is why I am here."

"Oh." Ruby muttered.

The mood of the conversation had settled into an encumbering sense of melancholy as they walked through one of Beacon's outdoor breezeways. Meanwhile Jaune was continuously receiving readings from his sensors of nearby individuals and their movements. Everyone within range; movements and vitals all. He knew that by this time more students had started to walk about the campus and all the readings were becoming a slight annoyance. His sensors could never be turned off unless they suffered serious damage, and he wasn't about to inflict self harm for the sake of reprieve.

"Moving onto another topic," Weiss declared, "do you have any plans on meeting up with our Jaune? Or the rest of Team JNPR for that matter?"

"I don't think that would be a good idea…" Blake mentioned.

"Nope!" Ruby piped.

"No, I have no intentions of meeting with my past self," Jaune explained, "there are too many unknown factors and theoretical consequences of interacting with a past version of myself. For safety measures, it would be best if I-"

The five of them rounded the corner of the breezeway and immediately froze. All of their eyes widened and their jaws hung agape. Even Jaune's mouth dropped while shock and panic briefly spiked within his mind.

Once again, destiny had other plans in store for him.

"Hey guys!" a younger, shorter, and non-mechanized Jaune greeted them mere feet away with the rest of the awaken Team JNPR striding at his side, "What's up?"

* * *

 **Author's note: Ah, the classic cliffhanger. Typical, but useful.**

 **Strangely, this chapter took a lot of refining to make everything seem plausible. Even now I'm not entirely sure if truly comes off as so either. Also the quality: often I find myself either packing in too much details or making things too brisk.**  
 **Never mind plausibility or quality, how many horrendous grammar errors have I committed?!**

 **Regardless, it took a lot of revising to make this chapter. First I made it took quick, then I had to revise Ozpin and Glynda's characterization (which I hope I did alright with...), then I put too many allusions, and had to reword and add a entire paragraphs, suddenly it all didn't make sense and...yea.**

 **I believe I made the explanation for the Time Loop theory (yes, I am deeming it such) as clear as possible at least. Stories involving the mechanics of time can easily become trash works if the theories become convoluted.**

 **I would like to thank everyone favorited, followed, and/or reviewed so far. I do appreciate all the support and criticisms.**

 **Till next chapter.**


	6. Chapter V

**Author's note: Hmmm…so apparently: Jaune + Future Trunks (Dragon Ball Z) + Raiden (Metal Gear) + Terminator = Future Jaune…** **Ironically, I was aiming for a less naïve Silver the Hedgehog (not really). Next thing I know someone's gonna say Future Jaune reminds them of Cloud from Final Fantasy…**

 **Like always, thank you for taking the time to read this and my gratuitous appreciation to everyone who follows, favorites, and/or reviews. It's always awesome hearing what yall have to say.**

 **I'll hold my comments and remarks for the closing Author's note. Till then, enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter V**

Unnerving silence proliferated the air between them. Bewilderment and astonishment rendered their voices mute. Meanwhile, Nora was bobbing up and down with her hands behind her back and delight plastered on her face, Pyrrha was taking in the appearance of the newcomer, and Ren was assessing the situation as cool as ever. The younger Jaune noticed the fully armored giant standing in front of him and cerulean blues locked onto one another.

"So uhh, who's your friend?" Jaune awkwardly asked, timidity seeping into his voice.

"WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" Ruby panicked and dashed behind Yang in a flurry of rose pedals. Yang snapped herself out of her shock to find her sister clinging to her backside with her arms and legs wrapped around her torso.

Yang glanced over her shoulder at Ruby in confusion, "Wha-?"

"When future people meet their past self they create a paradox implosion bubble and cause an explosion that shatters the space-time continuum!" Ruby sputtered out and pointed over Yang's shoulder at the two Jaunes, "THEY'RE GONNA EXPLODE AND DESTROY ALL OF REALITY!"

"WAIT WHAT?!" the younger Jaune cried out and flinched backwards. The future Jaune just stood there observing his past self with a gawking stare. Yang rolled her eyes as she attempted to pry her sister off of her, to which Ruby adamantly refused to do so.  
Weiss folded her arms and shook her head reproachfully.

"That's completely ridiculous." Weiss scoffed, "Right Blake?"

Weiss turned to her side to find an earth Dust figurine of Blake created from her semblance and left behind in her place. The heiress's eyes blanked at the sight and her jaw dropped when the Blake-lookalike crumbled to dust. Blake had, in compliance to Ruby's 'logic', fled. Sighing, Yang finally managed to maneuver herself out of Ruby's grasp and move her from clutching her back to dangling from her arm.

"Relax Ruby," she coaxed and lowered her sister down, "we haven't exploded yet."

Upon realizing that no continuum explosion had leveled all dimensions and corners of reality, Ruby drawled out a sigh and dropped from her sister's arm. Around one of the breezeway's pillars peered out Blake before she vanished and she instantly reappeared beside Weiss.  
The future Jaune finally dispelled his astonishment and refocused himself with his usual stoic expression.

"At least that theory is proven false." he muttered and continued to take in the sight of Team JNPR. Their team leader finally settled down and shot a questioning look to Ruby.

"Wait, are you saying that this guy is _me_?" Jaune asked in perplexity and began examining the cybernetic being even further, "Th-that's ridiculous; I'm not that tall…or awesome looking…or a robot…heh…"

Pyrrrha quietly looked up at left half of the giant cyborg's showing face. It took her a moment, but she began to identify the similarities and began shifting her gaze back and forth between him and her leader to confirm her staggering hunch. Nora was ooo-ing at the sight of the massive cyborg's pieces of powered armor equipped all over and his bulky sword and shield. Ren merely regarded him with a kind smile. The cybernetic Jaune merely regarded his past self with an unamused stare. Detecting that his presence hadn't cause a temporal anomaly, his systems projected no harm in revealing who he was since the Temporal Paradox Explosion theory was proven wrong. Prognoses even indicated a more likelihood of his mission succeeding if he did. Jaune dug into his memory banks for a few choice words that could convince his naïve past self who he was without endangering his existence.

"You bought a tulip for Weiss when you planned to ask her out to the Beacon dance." he stated unemotionally.

"You did _what_?" Weiss demanded with an edge in her voice and locked her daggering eyes onto the surprised blond. JNPR's leader shifted uncomfortably and laughed nervously as all eyes fell on him, Pyrrha's expression changed into a barely visible glare.

"Y-you can't prove that…" Jaune denied out of embarrassment.

"It's true." his partner sighed in annoyance.

"Pyrrha!"

"When you think nobody is around you sing Jeff Williams songs in the shower." the future self continued.

" _That's_ true!" Nora added blatantly with a grin.

"Nora!" Jaune snapped before glaring up at the tall cyborg that was supposed to be him, "For your information, Jeff William songs are great; just ask Ruby."

"In the shower though?" Ruby snickered. Jaune sunk his shoulders and narrowed his eyes in disbelief at his best friend. Yang flashed a devious grin on her face, Blake had a condescending smirk on her lips, and Weiss merely rolled her eyes. The future Jaune stared coldly down at his counterpart, internally stunned that he was once this stubbornly oblivious fool. Thankfully, he knew a fond memory that would drive his case home.

"Your sisters use to dress you up as a girl with cosmetics and hair accessories," he pointed out, "and you didn't stop until you were seven years old."

Everyone fell quiet for a moment. Jaune's jaw hung open, his voice lost all sound, and the color of his skin paled out of mortification.

Nora, of course, was the first to respond.

"Hah! You were dressed up like a girl!" the valkyrie girl cackled, pointing at her leader laughing. Ruby and Yang were gripping their stomach while cracking up.

"S-sorry J-Jaune, but th-that's too funny!" Ruby managed to cough out before breaking down in hilarity. Weiss fought to remain composure, but the mental image of a toddler Jaune being dabbed in makeup with his hair done was something very hard not to laugh at. Blake simply covered her mouth to hide her smirk. The flabbergasted blond stood looking up at the massive cybernetic being that had spilled one of dark his hidden secrets. He numbly felt a hand place itself on his shoulder.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of Jaune," Ren supported, "you were young at the time."

"You didn't stop until you were seven!" Nora cried out and doubled over in a fit of hysteria.

Pyrrha mirrored Blake and covered her mouth to hide her devious grin. Like the other girls laughing, she too found Jaune's revealed secret hilarious, but she also found it endearingly _adorable_. She mentally chalked up another thing that made her swoon for her leader. She tore her gaze away from her embarrassed leader and glanced up at the giant cyborg who had spilled said secret. Her eyes began examining him from bottom up. His limbs were enormous and encased entirely with his armor save for a few joint areas. Battle scars and scuffs dotted all over the gleaming white armor, but her trained eye could see more than two dozen scratches and abrasions dotted everywhere. Her eyes unconsciously shifted towards the piece of charred metal that hung from his neck on a wire. Pyrrha couldn't quite identify what the mangled piece of metal but had a feeling that it must be of significant importance for him to be wearing it on him.  
Prying her eyes away from the vaguely familiar keepsake, her eyes gazed up to see the cyborg Jaune's face…and immediately found them staring back at her. Merriment left her mind as curiosity overtook her mind. Despite only one of his eyes showing, she could see confliction and longing entangling in his core.  
A distant, sullen look filled with painful relief.  
A look that started to bring slight discomfort to her. What was going on in his mind? The mechanized being suddenly realized that his stare was being returned by her.

"Apologies, my Regent." he stated instinctively before comprehending what he said and quickly returning his attention back to Jaune. Pyrrha narrowed her eyes at his phrasing. Regent? She opened her mouth to ask why he had called her that but was cut off by her team leader.

"So…you really are…me." a recovered Jaune stated in captivation. Everyone, minus Ren and Pyrrha, finally pulled themselves together to stop laughing and slowly focused on the situation playing out before them. The young teenager stared up at his cybernetic future counterpart with a hanging jaw, who in return regarded his measly past self with a cold expression. Scratching the back of his head, Jaune gestured towards the armor and cybernetic body.

"How did…I end up like this?" he hesitatingly asked.

"For the safety of my existence, I cannot tell you."

"Oh…right."

A long gurgling rumble interrupted the conversation. All eyes fell onto the source of the continuous noise: Nora. The valkyrie girl placed her hands on her stomach and winced as her stomach _very_ audibly growled in protest. When it finally subsided, Nora's face beamed with her regular cheery expression.

"Well I'm starving!" Nora proclaimed and marched forward, "You can tell us all about yourself once we get something to eat!"

As she brushed past the cyborg, she grabbed his arm with both her hands and proceeded to drag him towards the cafeteria. Or at least she would have dragged him had he budged from his spot. Instead, Nora futilely tugged on his arm as he stood there unmoving. A moment passed before the cybernetic Jaune rolled his eyes and slowly turned around and moved, letting Nora guide him to their destination. The remaining seven of them exchanged glances before also making their way after them.

"So uh, what kind of brand of makeup did you use?"

Jaune let out a wimpy groan.

* * *

Now in the fully restored dining hall, courtesy on the behalf of Team RWBY, mingled many of the students that had arrived throughout the morning. Returning classmen were bundling around their teammates and known friends while the first year students uneasily tried to navigate around and find some sort of social solace. The aroma of the dining hall's daily special filled the air with the scent of other various foods and the chatter of the upcoming Huntsmen and Huntresses. Despite it all, everything faded into ambiance around a specifically crammed table in the center of the architect. Inquisitive eyes darted onto the specific table and its peculiar occupants, particularly the strangest looking one of the all, but none lingered too long and eagerly went about their own business.

Cerulean blues observed the four girls in front of him and pandered to other pair of females and males on his sides. Settled before everyone were trays containing numerous foods and the daily special that were already partially devoured; everyone but him.

"Whr dnt yh hv eny fuhd?" Nora asked. He tilted his head slightly to see the ill-mannered sight of Nora's mouth stuffed with chicken. A poor sloppy sight, but a sight that brought back memories of the Nora knew. He felt traces of reminiscent sentiment and normalcy fill his head before they were whisked away. Nora finally deducted that he couldn't understand her due to his lack of response and quickly scarfed down the chicken in her mouth.

"Why don't you have any food?" Nora repeated.

"My body no longer requires nutrition," he explained, "it is made of augmented bionic fibers and sensors uplinked to an internal biomechanical networking system. I run solely on energy."

"Laaame!" Nora declared and stabbed her fork into another chicken breast and chowed down.

"So you're made of that stuff entirely?" Weiss asked from across the table.

"Yes, everything but my head," he responded, "my body was damaged beyond repair, even with my aura."  
He noted that his past-self began to shift uncomfortably in his seat.

"What happen to your face?" Blake questioned brusquely.

"I lost half of my visor during an…engagement," he told hesitantly. His visible eye behind his eyepiece blinked as the memories of the engagement rushed back into his mind again. Half a second passed before he resumed talking, "While the remainder of my visor still functions, I had to be fitted with specialized face gear to make up for the loss."

"Are you _sure_ you can't tell me how'd I end up with just my head?" Jaune pleaded. A daggering glare made Jaune recoil out fear and rendered him silent. For once, the dense boy finally took the hint.

Meanwhile Yang observed the whole fiasco from her corner seat and took in all the details. Her earlier assumption was correct: the future Jaune was acting like Blake whenever she was in one of her brooding moods except multiplied twenty times over and as cold and snappy as Weiss whenever she…well, just about all the time really. She knew clearly well that he had gone through and seen unspeakable tragedies and as a result had become tight-lipped from experience, but they wouldn't be able to develop any sort of acquaintanceship, let alone friendship, if he continued to only give a less than minimum response about himself rather than his appearance. He needed elaboration. There were plenty of other ways to get a person to open up about themselves even if whatever temporal funky things Ruby and Blake mentioned restricted them. Understanding and time could eventually get him to open up, but her curiosity of this entity from the future ate at her insides. She would have to resort to her favorite method of social interaction if she was to garner a reaction out of him. Something way obscure and blunt that would definitely throw him off guard.

"I've been wondering…" Yang spoke up, drawing all eyes to her except for Nora's, who was too busy eating. The cyborg's head tilted in her direction.  
A flirtatious smile flashed across her face.

"Are your sword and codpiece the real deal or are you just compensating for something?"

"Yang…"

"Sis, why?".

"Typical."

The cybernetic knight only blinked in response. Out of all the possible questions his mind and internal systems predicted that they would ask and all the vague responses he planned to give, an innuendo question, let alone a sexual one, was the least expected. What threw him off was its topic. The robotic blond suddenly became consciously aware of his massive sword attached to his back compartment and the metal codpiece that extended down between his cybernetic legs. His sword was justifiably huge and had fulfilled its purpose countless of times. His protective codpiece also completed its purpose equally. Still, he could see what Yang was getting at. If his memory of Yang served correctly, it would be best if he addressed her query rather than ignore it unless he wanted her shrewd sense of humor to brew and cause annoyance later on down the line.

"My sword is made of a modified alloy that allows it to channel whatever form of Dust I charge it with in its cross guard," he explained dismissively, "as for my codpiece: it was both a practical function and served as a ceremonial decorative of the Praetorians."

Everyone was too busy glaring at Yang snickering to catch the little tidbit of information at the end. Her sister's attention, meanwhile, piqued at the mention of his weapon and thus ignored the last bit of his sentence.

"Charge with dust?" Ruby reiterated with interest.

"Your weapons can channel Dust; mine can fuse with its energy for a short period of time."

" _That's so cool_." Ruby fangirled.

"Atlas technology must've come a long way." Weiss noted impressively.

"The head of the division was innovative." he remarked.

"What're their names?" Ruby asked. Had it been anyone else, they would've thought her as looney and crazy, but he completely understood what the little reaper was asking. Even in the future, Ruby always had a near obsession with weapons.

"Graucus Aegis."

Ruby immediately began aweing. Meanwhile, Pyrrha finally seized the lull in the conversation to ask her question. It wasn't one of her major questions she wanted to ask, but it was a suitable ice-breaker to keep the conversation going.

"If you don't mind me asking," the red-head spoke up from her corner of the table, "how are you able to move with all of that armor and weaponry?"

His gaze focused on Pyrrha a second longer than he intended before someone else interjected in.

"Yeah how can you even move at all?" Weiss added on, "Is everything made out of a lightweight material?"

"No, my armor and bionic framework weigh 2600 pounds, not including Graucus Aegis."

Everyone's jaw dropped and Nora began choking on her food. A firm pat from Ren on her back helped Nora dislodge her stuffed airway with a hacking cough. Jaune's mind suddenly became more aware of the hulking giant that was himself sitting on the table bench beside him. A memory resurfaced and a question formed in her head, snapping Yang out of her stupor.

"How the heck can you move so quietly then?" she asked, referring back to the time when he managed to evade her in the Library.

"Shock absorbents, acutely calibrated servos, suppressive mesh layers, and the noise-reducing build of my feet. My body was designed to also act as a stealth unit."

"How are you even sitting down?!" Nora shouted while leaning back and pointed at his seat.  
The rest of Team JNPR craned their heads back and stared at the sitting torso of the cybernetic knight.  
The realization that his immense weight hadn't crushed their seat dawned upon them.

"Very carefully." he replied.

A lull in the conversation befell them. Ruby's eyes fell onto the future Jaune, whom had resumed his aloof expression and sat unmoving in his somehow not broken seat, and glanced at the Jaune that she knew, who scooted slightly away from his counterpart. The whole time travelling concept felt unbelievably surreal. On the bright side though, she now had two best friends!

Two socially inept knights.

Two Jaune Arcs.

Two.

"Uh, Jaune?" Ruby addressed. Both of the Jaunes casted their gazes at her, confirming the dilemma she foresaw.

"Now that there are two of you, what do we call you to distinguish you two apart?" Ruby asked.

"Easy!" Yang exclaimed and pointed at the normal Jaune, "We just call him Vomit Boy!"

"I refuse to answer to that!" Jaune argued diligently.

"Oh my bad… _Pretty_ Vomit Boy." Yang shot back.

Jaune pitched forward and slammed his head on the table. A groan of pain and regret escaped his mouth along an incoherent cry of humiliation.  
The cybernetic Jaune stared down at his past self; he was not impressed in the slightest.

"It would be easier if I were given the nickname." he stated while gladly pulling his gaze away from Jaune.

"Pretty Vomit-"

"No." he interrupted harshly. Yang shut her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him.

"How about Future Jaune?" Ruby suggested.

"It sounds a little cliché." Blake muttered.

"Oh, how about Jaune-Two?" Jaune added excitedly.

"No," Weiss shot him down, "just…no."

"Jaune Two point oh?"

The two teams suddenly leapt into a conflicted brainstorming.

"The White Knight!"

"Mr. Shiny Cyber Guy!"

"Juan!"

Voices argued back and forth between the four of them while the being in question found his attention focused in another place. Specifically, a few tables down from his spot. His systems picked up readings of multiple heartrates spiking; the kind that were akin to fear. His auditory systems automatically recording the ongoing debate, he glanced over his shoulder and spotted the source of the disproportional readings: a tall male pestering a group of what looked to be new first year students.  
It wasn't just any tale male though…

"Okay! I think we can all agree on calling him Arc," Ruby finally settled with her arms spread and index fingers pointing, "Do we have anyone opposed?"

All of them shook their heads. Ruby breathed a sigh of relief before looking towards their cybernetic friend currently looking away.

"Is…that alright with you?" she meekly checked. She would hate to have gone through all of their arguments only for him to reject whatever nickname they came up with.

'Arc' still averted his gaze from him and focused elsewhere. Without a word, they watched as he suddenly stood up from his seat and began walking away. A puzzled look crossed Ruby's face before she studied his path of direction and saw where he was heading to.

"Uh oh…" Ruby murmured.

* * *

"Here at Beacon, the student body has unofficially nominated me as the head of the welcoming committee for first-year students." Cardin Winchester lied as he glared down at the several freshmen students. The new huntsmen-in-training, not sure of what to expect upon arriving at Beacon, were taking in Cardin's words with gullible fear. They were so miniscule in comparison to Cardin's height and lacked the knowledge that they pinned Cardin to have for already being a second-year student himself. Cardin displayed a smug grin. Who knew extorting them could be so easy? If only the rest of his teammates could've checked into Beacon early like he did.

Cardin held out an index finger at the wimpy freshmen, "That being said, you all must do exactly what I say or else you will have to take up a flying class…which I happen to be the only teacher of."

"Cardin Winchester." a stringent voice uttered behind him.

Cardin saw the eyes of the freshmen widen and their jaws dropped at the approach of someone behind him. The voice didn't belong to any of the Beacon teachers that he knew of, so he knew that no official reprimanding was coming. He rolled his eyes and gnashed his teeth in annoyance as he spun around to face whomever was addressing him. Initially expecting someone to be of lesser height, Cardin held his gaze low and suddenly found himself staring at a jagged decorative codpiece. Slowly his gaze craned past the being's plated torso and up towards their head that was surprisingly placed on a taller set of shoulders. A cerulean blue eye behind an eyepiece glowered down at him with a grimace. The bully's mouth instinctively slackened at the stranger's bizarre appearance but he quickly regained himself. He wasn't going to let some random guy intimidate him; especially in front of the first-year students.

"Yeah? What do you want freak?" Cardin growled and crossed his arms. He had hoped that his choice of words would have shaken or offended him, but he saw no sign of such.

"How could someone like you act so pathetic like this?"

Jaune watched Cardin unfold his arms and scrunch his hands into trembling fists. He had touched a nerve. As unfortunate as it may have been, this was the only way of getting through to the past persona of Cardin that he knew of: a display of power.

"Excuse me, I didn't quite get that. Care to repeat that again?" Cardin fumed with a lowered expression.

"Picking on first-year students so you can assert your authority? Absolutely pitiful." Jaune mocked, "How long until you learn that bullying others only shows how weak you really are?"

"Huh, and just who do you think _you_ are?" Cardin demanded in a similar tone, the kind of tone he usually shifted to right before he acted with violence. Something he was counting on.

Jaune remained unmoving and answered, "Not a weak, despicable coward like you are now."

A snarl emanated from Cardin as he reeled one of his fists back and shot it forward. Jaune didn't even have to prepare for the bully's lumbering attack and merely reached out and caught the punch with his hand. Clawed fingers grasped around the bully's fist that impacted against his metal palm. To Cardin, it felt like he had painfully punched an indestructible block that almost shattered his bones and now clutched his fist in an immobile clutch. Before he could retract his fist or counter with his opposite hand, the grip encasing his fist tightening into a bone crunching death grip. A yelp of complete pain escaped his throat as his clamped fist was twisted outwardly. The succumbing agony and the twisting of his entire arm forced the seven-foot son of Winchester to his knees in anguish. Cardin's face contorted with torment as he looked up to see the unfazed expression of his captor.

Jaune looked down upon the helpless Cardin. The freshmen had quickly fled and nobody was moving to stop him. It was just him, the bully sunken to the ground, and the on looking eyes of everyone around him. Some students watched out of intrigued fear, others watched in hopes that he would teach Cardin a permanent lesson.  
Despite having the bully on his knees and at his mercy, Jaune's mind raced back to memories from long ago to a time after Beacon.  
A battle.  
A decision.  
A sacrifice.  
Staring down at the past-version of his fellow Huntsman made it almost improbable for there to be a comparison. Yet here he was, struggling with his fist contorted and caught in his grasp. A mental sigh resonated within his mind; this was the only way he would be able to pierce Cardin's bully persona. A swath of pity and remorse flowed through him as he thought back to the Cardin that he once knew.

"Your sacrifice at Menagerie was not in vain." Jaune mumbled solemnly. Cardin's face twisted into pained confusion before Jaune flung his arm to the side and released his grip. Cardin collapsed into a heap on the ground gripping his crunched hand. Jaune gave one last look at him on the ground before pivoting back and walking away. His hearing picked up the muddled curses coming from Cardin's mouth and his scanners indicated that he was not moving to retaliate.  
He said what he had wanted to say: a 'thank you' that he never got to tell the Cardin he knew. While this specific Cardin wasn't like the one he knew, it still felt right for him to say what he wanted to say to the essential Cardin. The statistics showed no immediate consequences of his action but the interaction had inexplicably caused another onset of memories to flood his mind. A bittersweet advantage of having a computer-enhanced mind: his memories were as fresh and unfiltered as the moment he experienced them.

The members of Team RWBY and JNPR bore worried and apprehensive expressions as he started to pass by them. No one could hear what he had said to Cardin, but watching him viciously subdue Cardin and toss him aside only sprung questions and disappointment from Nora. Eyes stared at him as he impassively walked by. His footfalls did not stop when they aligned with his empty seat and continued to move in the direction of the exit.

"Jaune, are you ok?" Ruby finally asked. She watched him pause in place and grow stiff. The fact that he refused to turn around and face them worried her even more.

Unbeknownst to them, Jaune was cycling through his memory and sifting through their conversation about his nickname. Some of their suggestions were rather peculiar and amusing. He flashed to the last bit of the debate and acknowledged the nickname they had unanimously agreed upon and chosen for him. It wasn't something he would've called himself, but his mind held too many heavy thoughts and memories for him to come up with a better one. The new data on the space-time continuum because of his interactions; revised and altered methods on how to accomplish his mission; the vivid memories of his past. All of it. He needed to sort it out.

"I'm fine," was his response that they heard before he left, "and call me Arc."

"Okay…" Ruby muttered quietly. She desperately wanted to reach out to him and say something that would make him stay. Something that would help him open up. Something. Anything. Yet with her mind trying to figure out something to say, the right words failed to come to her.

The eight students watched him go until he had passed through the exit threshold and left the building. Blake knew what he was experiencing to some degree. Ruby was solemnly mulling over social awkwardness. Weiss and Nora both kept quiet out of concern that they would say something unsuited for the atmosphere. Pyrrha slowly shifted her gaze to Jaune sitting beside her, who had suddenly found his plate of food the most interesting thing to stare at. Ren remained silently sitting but with bother etched on the corners of his face. Yang shot her eyes over to the other blond sitting at the table.

"Wow…I didn't know you could be so…detached." Yang commented sullenly.

"Yeah," Jaune muttered before glancing over at the empty seat beside him where _he_ had sat minutes ago, "me either."

* * *

Night had fallen over Vale and by extension Beacon. Reflected light from the shattered moon above bathed the landscape and the sleek Atlesian air fleet with its glimmer. The famous Huntsmen academy was no exception to this either. Near emptiness filled the illuminated campus corridors as the night pressed on. Near emptiness. Speculation told of Glynda stalking through the night in search of students out way past curfew. This night, however, had the mercy of Beacon's own headmaster sweeping through the night in replacement for Glynda. His footsteps and the tap of his cane as he walked echoed in the cool silence. He briefly raised his mug to take a quick sip of his brew before continuing his stroll.

'This day has certainly been interesting.' Ozpin mused as he walked in his intentional path.

Truth be told, the headmaster actually had another purpose for taking up the night shift aside from giving his dear assistant a break, of course. From time to time, he would glance outside of his office and find their mysterious ally lumbering throughout the campus. The way he lingered everywhere made it seem like he was a ghostly specter haunting the grounds. Hopefully the boy was still brooding in the last place he saw him.

Entering the courtyard, Ozpin's eyes caught sight of the eerie glow of the moonlight reflecting off his pale white armor.  
He only managed to take a few paces towards him before he froze at the sight of Jaune's acknowledging gaze flashing right at him.

"You knew." Arc muttered.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You knew I would run into my past self."

Ozpin resumed his steps, "I had my assumptions, but I never really set you up for such a fateful encounter."

"That's always been your method," Arc chided and averted his stare at the professor's approach, "passively letting things pander out naturally happen."

"Would you rather I seize power and use force to impose my will upon everyone for the sake of safety?" Ozpin countered and stood beside him.

"Compared to the alternative that I lived through, I'd say it would have been a practical decision."

"Practical, but not right."

"No," Jaune quietly conceded, "not right at all."

"Besides, now you discovered that your presence and actions won't rip apart the space-time continuum, you can safely share more about the future, right?"

Jaune's answer was silence followed by words.

"Yes, I am more than willing," Jaune said and reverted his head back towards Ozpin, "summon General Ironwood, Glynda and Qrow. I will reveal what needs to be said and answer all questions you may have."

Ozpin nodded in agreement but raised his eyebrows at the mention of his best field agent.

"Qrow? But he's-"

"He's not compromised," Jaune interrupted, "he's merely waiting for you to contact him."

Ozpin regarded him before taking another sip from his mug. Who was he to question the foreknowledge of one of his students from the future?

"Very well then, though it may take a day or so for him to arrive."

"I shall patiently wait then." Jaune remarked before turning away and walking off, "I'll be around."

Ozpin watched Jaune head off into the night. This wasn't the young clumsy Arc that he knew; this was a hard fought veteran with immense experience from the future. Something Ozpin saw that warranted his respect. Respect for who he was and respect for his desire to not open up if he so deemed to. In retrospect though, that last cause seems redundant now that he promised to tell him everything that happen to him. All that was yet to come. All that the future held in store for them.

It would be interesting nonetheless.

* * *

 **Author's note: rtx...Rtx...RTx...RTX! I unfortunately have yet to go but I did watch the livestreams and follow the social media postings (respect to the guy cosplaying as the number one Arms Dealer cutting prices!).**

 **Volume 4 starts on October 22nd! (I now have a deadline! :D)  
I am excited.  
**

 **The reason why this chapter took awhile because of college conferences, my day job, and trying to put coherent quality in this chapter. Also this was basically an exposition chapter; such things are tedious, but they are very critical to story-building.**

 **In regards to the interaction between Arc (yes, I am calling him that now) and Cardin, I tried to make it believable. I really did. I couldn't think of any other way of getting through Cardin's bully persona other than a display of brute strength by having Arc catch his punch and twist his arm until he is subdued to kneel (a throwback to the Meta doing the same thing to the muscular Resistance leader before beating him to death in "Red vs Blue"). Also references to "Juan" Arc and Cardin's flying class from the RWBY Manga!**  
 **Heh, this would have been a very short story if the Temporal Paradox Explosion theory was true...how's that for a tragic story?**

 **Annnd...yea. That's all I have for now. Thanks for readings and see yall next time.**


	7. Chapter VI

**Author's note: [Redacted]**

* * *

 **Chapter VI**

All through the night did Arc's mind churn with crystal clear memories as he silently treaded through the halls of Beacon. He had done a surmounting job keeping them at bay in the threshold of his psyche, but with an approximation of 36 hours to spare till the next meeting with Ozpin, now was a never better time to address his impeding hindrance. He focused on the memories that threatened to gush out in overwhelming droves and narrowed them down to a trickle as he carefully let the memories flow. His body had begun to involuntarily move as the memories played out in his mind, carrying him all over the campus in remembrance.

Dawn began to melt the darkened skies and mingling clouds flew overhead. Yet he still did not falter as he relived his memories. Arc remembered everything as he shifted from memory to memory and place to place. Although his robotic body could not contain any feeling of what his organic limbs felt long ago, his sharpened and enhanced mind recalled every single stimulus he once felt. Every person that was there with him at the time and every sound that was uttered. Despite the memories playing out within his head, he could only feel faint traces of the emotions that carried with them just as they were sapped away. With each memory he remembered came a new location he found himself standing in, and with every new location came another new memory. It was a slow and gradual process, but it was necessary to undergo if he wanted to function at optimal performance.

He needed this.

Students eventually began waking up and strolling about the campus trying to find something to pass the day with. Many of them had been disturbed at the sight of a seven-and-a-half-foot tall cyborg wandering aimlessly throughout Beacon. To the outside world, Arc gave off the impression paralleled to a ghost with his white armor and distant lost stare. The fact that his foot build rendered his steps inaudible emphasized the portrayal. A wraith-like specter haunting the grounds of Beacon. Everyone quickly stepped aside from his pathway. Most of the students who caught sight of him spared a few disturbing moments to either stare or gawk before moving on with their business. He ignored all of them, too lost in his trickling memories to even bother.

Sometime during the day he passed near Team RWBY. Ruby immediately called out a greeting and moved to accompany him, but Blake knowingly held her back. She immediately recognized the look on his face to determine that he needed to be alone. Ruby's protests were undermined when both Weiss and Yang agreed with Blake's words.

Eventually, the skies were painted in fading hues of yellow and orange before easing its way into the spectrum of dark blue. Dark blue gave way to black and darkness lulled behind to diminish the last reaches of sunlight for the day. Lampposts and night-hour lights hummed to life with electric Dust and brought illumination to the academy's grounds. In the distance shined the city lights of Vale with the white silhouettes of the ever present Atlesian fleet lazing above in the air and floating across the spectacle of the shattered moon. Only now did Arc begin to reach the end of his reminiscing trail of memories. His footfalls gradually eased into a trudge and reality around him slowly began to pull him out of his remembrance.  
Arc abruptly cut off his wandering stream of thought when it started to surface the events of the Vytal Festival. A few blinks and a check of the display data screens appeared in his vision. His mind flickered to the calculated and processed data regarding his place in the space-time continuum and any other approximations his system was running. Everything checked out normally and he accepted new data files to pull up another time.

Arc stood motionless on the faintly lit stairway. Inadvertently, his memories had led him along the path to the dorms and into this particular passage way. He did not need his system's location indicator that had instinctively pulled itself up with a flickering thought of his mind to know where and what dorm he was in. Arc took more consciousness steps up the stairs and silently made his way towards the source of the faint traces of noise his auditory systems were detecting. The clashing of blades, the reverberating of shields; all sounds he knew too well.

Reaching the top of the stairway left only the dorm's rooftop exit door keeping him from the other side. His systems picked up two elevated heartbeats accompanied with the grunts from each duelist. Arc waited for the inevitable outcome of the spar before he chose to pry open the metal door handle with his clawed hand and enter the scene.

Moonlight illuminated the rooftop setting and its features and occupants. Ignoring the faint traces of his optical scanners graphing the environment and pinpointing key tactical grounds out of the corner of his peripherals, Arc's eyes landed on the roof's two occupants. Bright red, polished bronze, and green eyes stuck out the most to him before he regarded the mess of yellow hair, scuffed white with jeans and a hoodie sprawled out on the rooftop, the sword knocked aside and the shield resting on his chest. Automatic response nerves forced Arc's fingers to twitch as he almost began to reach for Graucus Aegis, but he restrained himself.

Upon seeing him Pyrrha dropped her stance and brought her weapons to her side. Her breath was concentrated but she still had plenty of energy to respond.

"Hello again." she forced herself to say through deep breaths. A swirl of emotions and memories rushed to his head for a brief second before vanishing. Arc merely nodded in acknowledgement before he brought his attention to his past-self still slumped on the ground. The cybernetic knight moved a few steps before his head hung over the tuckered body.

"Was I really this weak?" Arc uttered apathetically.

Upon hearing his voice, Jaune let out a groan before slowly opening his eyes. Arc watched as Jaune realized that he was glaring down at him and watched Jaune steel himself internally from flinching at his intimidating stature. Seeing the faint spark of courage flicker in his face gave Arc a fleeting spec of hope for himself. A nervous laugh escaped Jaune's lips after a second.

"Heh, a little help here?" Jaune requested and willed his sore hand upward in hopes of being lifted off the ground. It didn't happen. Arc merely continued to stare down at Jaune as he continued to awkwardly keep his hand aloft. Despite the apparent expression of Arc's cold glare, Jaune naively ignored the unspoken refusal and kept his hand up. Watching the situation play out stood an idle Pyrrha. Seeing that this ordeal was playing out longer than it should she quickly put away Milo and Akouo and moved to help her partner up. She grabbed Jaune's hand firmly and pulled him up to his feet.

"Thank you Pyrrha," Jaune sighed before searching around for his sword, "at least _someone_ is willing to help."

"You need to learn how to be strong." Arc retorted aloofly, "The sooner that happens the better you'll be off."

"Well yeah I know that," Jaune quipped as he picked up his sword, "why do you think we're up here almost every night?"

"He's been getting a lot better too." Pyrrha added for emphasis.

Arc's unfazed expression turned to the warrior girl who offered a meek smile in response. A part of him wanted to assert his fore-knowledge of his abilities but a majority of him kept silent. He knew better than to argue with Pyrrha Nikos, especially when she was right. After all, she contributed a major part in _his_ training. Arc acknowledged the parallelisms and paradoxes evident at play.

"Awe thanks Pyrrha." Jaune said before turning his attention towards Arc, completely missing the adoring look of joy on Pyrrha's face. Arc drew away and refocused his attention on Jaune.

"See? Pyrrha and I got this." the young knight proclaimed proudly. Arc, however, wasn't persuaded, but his momentary silence indicated that he was choosing what words to say next.

"You need to learn how to be stronger on your own," Arc corrected his statement somberly, the shift of tone in his synthetic voice undetected by the two listeners.

"Pyrrha won't always be around to save you."

All of the tension and gravity in his words was immediately lost with Jaune's follow-up response.

"Yeah I know that." Jaune replied exasperated and readied Crocea Mors. Pyrrha immediately deciphered the gesture and drew Milo and Akouo before dropping into another battle poise. He took one more glance over his shoulder at Arc. "That's precisely why we're training now."

Before Arc to say another word Jaune had already rushed to face his trainer. The sound of metal clashing against metal returned with the grunts and huffs of each of the two combatants. Despite his auditory systems picking up the noise the world around him began to drone out. His eyes fell downward in solemnity. His synthetic jaw slackened as he let out an inaudible breath. The next words were lost to the sounds of training.

"That's not what I meant." Arc mumbled quietly and slowly turned away.

His shoulders buckled with heavy thoughts as he stood at the edge of the rooftop and overlooked the grounds of Beacon. Arc had resumed his silent brooding. How much catastrophe could he save if he told them everything right now? How many lives could he spare if he simply told them what was going to happen. Every inch of his consciousness and being wanted to activate his synthetic voice to articulate the words he wanted to say. The words that would undoubtingly save millions of lives, save the future as a whole, and most importantly…

Arc tuned into his sensors already recording and analyzing the sparring match playing out behind him. Pyrrha was taking a defensive stance behind her shield while blocking Jaune's swipes and jabs. After a sharp lunge from the blond boy, which his sensors detected as poorly angled, Pyrrha thrashed her shield forward and took the offensive. She quickly berated Jaune with fierce slashes against his shield before she raised Milo and brought it down. Jaune quickly raised his shield to block the high blow, but by doing so it left the rest of him exposed. Pyrrha seized her opportunity and shoved Akouo into his torso and effectively bashed Jaune backwards with the front of her shield.

Arc reverted his attention back to his thoughts. He knew he could not reveal anything to them right now as much as he desired to do so. How much collateral temporal damage would he cause if he did? The best option that he estimated was to inform Professor Ozpin and his league all that he knew. That way if there were any sort of collateral temporal damage Ozpin's specialty and wisdom would reduce it to a bare minimum and make the transition of realities a lot smoother. Arc idly grinded his jaw piece as he reaffirmed his thoughts. Within hours it would be morning and the time that he and Ozpin had chosen would come. That was when he could tell everything; that was when his mission would truly begin.

Pulling away from the insidious temptations of speech, Arc settled into his customary silence overlooking Beacon while mildly trying to ignore his sensors relaying him every single wrong movement and mistake his past-self was making. He could only close his eyes in irritation when he heard the inevitable thud of a body followed by the wimpy groan from his younger and more organically sounding voice.

* * *

Repetition tends to wear down anything over a given time. Repetition in training wears down barriers that prevent one from mastery. Constant water flow eventually will carve through solid rock. To Arc, the splendor and gallant beams of the warm promising sun over the horizon had lost its appeal long ago. Even when facing the prospect of saving the future, the dawn would always be that: the dawn. To be fair, Arc could remember a time when he was not always this bleak and cynical. Once his drive burned with hope and determination to drive back the forces of evil and create a better place for everyone, but now?

Arc paused in his reflection before assessing himself. That hope and determination was still there…just contorted and muffled. He quietly made his through the campus and towards the CCT and its clock tower stretching for the sky. Up at the top was his destination, and there he would come face to face with Beacon's headmaster, his assistant, and the headmaster of Atlas/General of the Atlesian military.

Oh, General James Ironwood was here. He had arrived earlier in the morning at the docking area in his private ship resembling a Bullhead augmented with Atlas's finest armor and laser weaponry. General Ironwood imposing self walked calmly out of the Bullhead and stepped with a hardened unfazed demeanor. Even from his hidden location Arc could see both the General's brilliant intelligence of military experience and the conceited rationality that came with it. He promptly decided to wait to reveal himself and let the General make his way to Ozpin.

Arc passed through the doors of the CCT. While there were a few CCT staff members remaining in the facility from their night shift, concealing his presence was not a factor anymore. Ignoring the stares he was gaining from everyone, Arc made his way past the several dozen rows of computers and over to the elevator and its awaiting occupant.

Suddenly his metallic steps froze in place and his eyes widened at the sight: Dark scruffy hair; a slender body frame; a tailing grey dress shirt with a red tattered cloak and black ruffled dress pants accompanied with dress shoes. Arc let the realization subside and approached.

"Come on…" Arc heard Qrow grumble and watched him press the already lighted call button. Arc came within a reaching distance before stopping, he knew that the old scythe-wielder was about to detect him within the next second. He watched as Qrow slowly craned his neck around and scope him out from over his shoulder. Realizing the uncommon sight, Qrow pivoted around to face him, his dark eyes taking in the mechanical titan looking down at him. Arc watched as his sight traced over Graucus Aegis and over his armored features before blinking into a pseudo state of sleaziness.

"Huh, now here's something you don't see every day," Qrow drawled loudly and tilted himself with folded arms, "You must be Ozpin's contact I've heard so much about." The scythe-wielder instinctively reached for the flask on his belt. Arc observed his fingers unscrew the cap and gradually wield it in his hand. He waited till Qrow was about to down another gulp before he communicated.

"Contrary to popular belief, Qrow, your drinking habits won't be the end of you." Arc remarked. The flask immediately stopped before its alcoholic content touched its owner's lips. Cautiously, Qrow lowered the flask and shot a listless glare at Arc's face.

"Oh yeah, I meant to ask," Qrow said, the natural slur in his voice vanishing, "how do you know who I am?"

"You were one of my trainers." Arc revealed. Qrow's eyebrows lifted in response and his eyes blinked. Arc watched the unfathomable confusion cross his eyes and his mind push extensively trying to remember, if the scrunched up expression indicated anything that Arc had observed Qrow do many times in the past.

 _Ding!_

The elevator doors opening snapped Qrow out of his pondering and his eyes dropped back to the flask that he held. Arc moved past him to board the elevator while Qrow exchanged looks between the giant cyborg and his drink at hand.

"Must'a been drinking a _whole_ lot when I trained ya." the old crow groaned before he took a swig and entered.

* * *

General James Ironwood slowly paced the floor beneath the rotating clockwork above. The ticking of the gears echoed in near cadence with the clasps of his boots as he treaded around. Normally Glynda would be the one pacing about, but instead she stood silently beside Ozpin's desk. Beacon's Headmaster himself rested behind his desk in a nonchalant manner, the polar opposite of what Ironwood was feeling right now. Without a word he ceased moving and drew his gloved hand to his chin with a deliberating expression staring off into nowhere. Who was this individual? How much importance did Ozpin place in this person that he felt the need to summon him away from his duties? What information did this person have that was so vital?

 _Ding!_

All the heads in the room glanced over at the elevator doors parting and revealing the arriving visitors. Crossing the threshold came the smug lanky scythe-wielder with his arms folded behind his head. His body leaned backwards as he walked into the office.

"Was wondering when you'd call me," Qrow addressed to everyone, "I was fixing on coming up here myself since things were getting a little _too_ quiet on the line."

Wandering off to the side, Qrow gave way to the other occupant of the elevator. Ironwood's sharp eyes quickly summed up the massive bionic man stepping into the room. His entire body, save for his head, was composed of cybernetic enhancements such as his own, except they appeared drastically more advanced. He examined the white armor that cladded the individual which seemed to somehow be powered if the faint light outlets dotting along his body indicated anything. Amongst all the deep incisions and brutal scratches that lingered across his entire body, Ironwood could see the faded insignia of Atlas coated on the cusp of the shoulder piece. All that stood before him was definitely the technology of Atlas, yet it was of a caliber that Ironwood didn't even know existed.

Most peculiar though was while Ironwood was examining him, the examinee was also taking in Ironwood's appearance with a slight tilt of the head in his direction. It took a moment for Ironwood to catch on, but Ozpin had already spoken.

"Welcome Mr. Arc, I trust you are ready to begin?" Ozpin greeted, maintaining a calm demeanor and focusing his attention. Glynda let out a quiet sigh and mirrored her boss. Qrow strode up to one of the room's support beams and slouched against it. Ironwood placed his hands behind his back and gave Arc his courtesy.

"General Ironwood sir," Arc stated with his synthesized voice and casted his sight on Ironwood. The General raised his eyebrows but held his stoicism.

"Qrow Branwen," Arc continued and craned his head over his shoulder to look the scythe-wielder square in the eye, "Both of you have been called here because I bring important news that can save Remnant."

Arc took the beat of silence as a que to continue.

"I am from the future." he stated. The silence still remained before one of the five skilled Huntsmen reacted. Surprisingly, it was General Ironwood who did so first. A disbelieving smirk crept across Ironwood's expression and he turned his head to Ozpin.

"Is he serious?" Ironwood questioned and gestured at Arc, evident skepticism in his voice. Ozpin barely opened his mouth to respond before the cybernetic knight interjected.

"As serious as the comatose Fall Maiden beneath this very tower."

All eyes in the room immediately shot at him widened stares and lowered jaws. Even Ozpin and Glynda were perturbed by the revelation of his knowledge of the current situation they were in with the Fall Maiden. Seemingly every sense of lightness and nonchalance had been tossed out and destroyed and a grim sense of gravity fell upon the entire chamber. Arc's visible cerulean eye slowly locked with Ironwood, Glynda, and Ozpin's flabbergasted expressions. He could see that his point was driven home. Letting out a hidden breath through his nostrils, he continued.

"Due to your passive tactics with handling the enemy, Professor Ozpin, and your rash actions of bringing the Atlesian military to Vale, General Ironwood, the infiltrators exploit both and bring about the Battle of Beacon near the end of the Vytal Festival Tournament. The Grimm invade the city and the White Fang launch an attack on Beacon. To make matters worse, every Atlesian Knight and Paladin turns against us."

"How is that possible?" General Ironwood interjected with severity.

"According to the aftermath information we gathered, the Atlesian military systems were hacked, thus turning the androids against us and causing the decimation of the entire Atlesian fleet stationed in Vale." Arc replied, ignoring the General's reaction and staring directly at Ozpin, "As the battle grew, the situation turned desperate, forcing you to call forth your candidate for the Fall Maiden's powers."

"You mean…"

"Pyrrha Nikos," Arc affirmed, "I once hated your choice to force this decision upon her, but in hindsight I see that it was a must. Taken into the Vault with Cinder close behind, Pyrrha is put into the Aura Transfer Machine and becomes imbedded with the other half of the Maiden's power at the last second. Combined with her skillset and newfound power, Pyrrha becomes the ultimate Huntress and saves Beacon and Vale though at high costs.

"The consequences following the Vytal Festival are negative: because the battle was broadcasted across Remnant, the three other governments then harbor extreme distrust and doubt to the Huntsmen academies, much so for the Atlas and its military. In addition, Remnant also witnessed the caliber of power Pyrrha now possessed, making her a renowned public figure and a high value target for the darkness. She is put under high protection but it does not last. The bittersweet peace lasts only for months before Vale is swarmed with hordes of Grimm in attempts to kill Pyrrha and obtain her power. Professor Ozpin, Professor Glynda, you both die trying to defend Beacon and the CCT."

Glynda's body language betrayed her as her muscles tensed up while Ozpin's face converted into piercing alertness.

"Though Beacon and Vale fall, some survivors escape to Vytal, including Pyrrha. With the destruction of Vale and Beacon, the world soon comes to view Pyrrha as a symbol of power to rally behind against the darkness. In time the three kingdoms pledge their allegiance to Pyrrha and a new government emerges from the ashes: the Autumn Empire. Pyrrha is granted the title of Regent and she leads Remnant in the all-out war against the Grimm.

"Years pass and we suffer tremendous losses. During one invasion half my team dies while trying to protect Pyrrha and I am mortally wounded. Fortunately, Atlas had made great advancements in technology at the time thanks to the head of the technology division and I was fitted with this body I have now."

"If I may satisfy my curiosity," General Ironwood spoke, earning him Arc's attention, "what type of cybernetic body is that?" Ironwood then proceeded to take off his glove and reveal the robotic hand that he had, "I have cybernetic implants, too, but not as advanced as yours."

"My body is a Mark VI-Centurion Stealth unit augmented with power armor and neural configuration systems and matrix programs, a multitude of sensor arrays, chemical flushers, and recycling energy stabilizers."

"In layman's terms?" Qrow butted in impatiently from his spot in the room. Arc glanced over his shoulder at the scruffy Huntsman.

"My mind is hooked up to a high-speed neural computer, I never run out of energy unless undergoing extremely strenuous performances and therefore do not require any sleep, and I cannot feel emotion because the chemical flushers remove them from my mind in order to keep my judgement and thoughts from interfering with whatever I am doing."

Qrow took a moment to comprehend his words before mouthing an 'oh' and resumed listening.

"Alive once more, I swore to protect my Regent…"

Arc shook off his unintentional lapse of silence and forced the words out, his mind locking onto the matter and his systems already purging the traces of heavy emotions.

"…but I failed. Years after I received my augmentations the armies of Grimm led by Cinder invaded the capital stronghold of the Autumn Empire at Vytal. We held out the best we could, but it wasn't enough; despite all that we did, Cinder managed to kill Pyrrha and obtain the rest of the Fall Maiden's powers. Ruby Rose, Qrow and myself fought her till the very end. I lost half of my helmet during the engagement."

Arc shot another glance at Qrow, who perked up at the mention of his name, "You succumb to your injuries and die afterwards." Qrow's eyes enlarged at the news and moved his hand to his flask. He took a long gulp of his beverage before pulling it away and waving it towards Arc.

"Continue." Qrow gulped. Arc nodded his affirmation and proceeded.

"After her death, the Maiden powers she obtained were transferred elsewhere. Even after all this time we still haven't pinpointed as to whom obtained them, seeing as no reports or sightings of Maiden power usage for many years afterwards. Regardless, Vytal falls to the Grimm and the Autumn Empire collapses, and all that is left are the remains of the three kingdoms. Five years after the destruction of the Autumn Empire, Atlesian scientists completed Project: Continuum, a time-travelling project with the purpose of sending someone back in time to prevent all the disasters and millions of lives being lost. That is what brought me here, and that is my mission."

Silence. Arc's vision scoped out his listeners. Ozpin had closed his eyes and began rubbing his temples. Glynda had bowed her head as she tried to comprehend and accept the words that he said as fact. Ironwood remained silent and brought his hand to his tilted chin in contemplation. Meanwhile, Qrow took another drink from his flask and pushed himself away from the pillar.

"So," Ozpin's agent spoke, "you said the infiltrator's name was…Cinder, right?"

Arc nodded, "Correct, she is under the guise of a visiting student from Haven Academy. Her accomplices are Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black and are here as well." Upon being given the identification of their long sought after infiltrators, Glynda immediately snapped out of her stupor, pulled out her tablet and began tapping away on the touchscreen. Ironwood shifted his glanced and attention to Arc.

"You never mentioned what happens to me." Ironwood noted.

"You were last seen holding off the Grimm in the deserts of Vacuo and commanding our forces there. We then lost all contact and found no trace of you; we had listed you as MIA, most likely captured, if not already killed."

If the General was fazed by the news of his own disappearance, he did not show it.

"And…a horde of Grimm attacks Vale and our Atlesian cyber military units are hacked?" Ironwood added. Arc merely nodded and watched as the General came to a conclusion.

"Thank you for this information," the General said and turned to Ozpin, "if you will excuse me Ozpin, I must see that our computer securities are upgraded and that the number of my men are increased to counter the Grimm assault."

"Did you not hear what he said Jimmy?" Qrow snapped and moved closer to the gathering, "Your decision to bring your military fleet here was half the reason why all of those things happened in the first place!"

"Repeating a mistake again will only yield the same consequences," Ozpin stated and rose from his seat with his cane in his hand, "besides, General, this future that Mr. Arc spoke of has not yet happened."

"Something that I plan on ensuring." Arc added, clenching his clawed fist to show emphasis.

"You have done plenty already, Mr. Arc," Ozpin appraised, "by telling us this information you have already begun to circumvent the future. Now we must plan to make sure that what you have told us never happens."

"Plan?" Arc demanded with a single step forward, his shoulders tensing in response, "We need to act swiftly if we are to prevent my future from ever happening, not sit around and wait for the enemy to act."

"If we were to act upon this knowledge immediately," Ozpin said as he moved around his desk to join them in the front, "we would reveal our knowledge of what the enemy knows and give them the opportunity to counteract and change their plans. Whereas if we pretend to not know we can ensnare them without the chance to react."

"Your passive methods can only do so much, Professor," Arc cautioned but relented the stiffness in his shoulders, "but if we are to go about this your way, I suppose I can find other ways to contribute aside from being a messenger."

"Yes, you are already doing so by taking it upon yourself to monitor reality and overseeing how these actions in the present would change the future," Ozpin acknowledged, "and surely there must be other ways to improve our chances."

Arc was at a loss of words of what he should say next, but then recent events in his memory pointed to what he should do. Meanwhile Qrow brought up his flask to satisfy his addiction only to discover that he had once again emptied its contents. Mumbling something about a refill, Qrow excused himself from the group and headed for the elevator. Arc, on the other hand, finally thought up a plan he could put into play.

"I can begin training my past self." Arc acknowledged. Glynda took the moment to look up from her tablet and give Arc a relieved expression.

"Please do," she implored, "I'd hate to have to witness him stumbling through my class for another year."

Despite it being himself that she was referring to, Arc could not have agreed more.

* * *

The day passed as like any other day for Arc, minus the Grimm and constant pressure. His memories no longer interfered and his psyche now returned to normal functioning status, he had informed Ozpin and his associates everything they needed to change the future, and he had read through the data files that his internal system had configured earlier regarding the space-time continuum. They had already ruled out the Temporal Paradox Explosion theory through interaction and reality around seemed stable enough at the moment to keep the Time Loop theory out of mind momentarily. Additionally, he had also been assigned a direct task to help sway the odds to their side; a task that brought him back to this very same spot once again.

Arc finished his ascent up the stairway and opened the rooftop door. There, like the night before, were Pyrrha and Jaune practicing with their weapons. This time the instructor was trying to show her trainee how to execute a certain counter. Arc immediately identified what technique she was trying to convey and idly watched what was about to unfold. Jaune tried to mimic the swipes and the stances that Pyrrha just showed him, but Arc noted that his blade was not angled correctly and his body was not in the proper position to pull off the move.

The result was inevitable and all the more painstakingly pitiful to Arc. After a few more attempts, Arc finally decided to initiate his task.

"Your sword needs to be angled higher," Arc spoke, causing both of them to flinch in surprise and Jaune to drop Crocea Mors, "and your torso needs to be more angled to your left when you do that counter."

"When did you get here?!" Jaune exclaimed and bent down to retrieve Crocea Mors. Arc ignored the question and continued.

"Hello again Arc," Pyrrha greeted in a friendly manner, "What brings you up here again?"

"Him," Arc stated and fixed his sight on Jaune. The subject teenager stood up and casted an exasperated glower at his future-self.

"If this is about me being weak I know," Jaune snapped, "and for the record, not everyone can be as strong and as fast as you…err, me?"

"Correct," Arc stated, "Only _you_ can better yourself."

Pyrrha gave him a curious expression, "Are you suggesting…?"

Arc said nothing in response as he reached back and clasped the hilt of Graecus Aegis. A flash of motion later and he had unsheathed the giant sword and cut through the air, its point falling still in the direction of Jaune. Jaune froze in place and raised his hands up. Arc stared down at him with a narrowed sight.

"If you are to become better then you must discover what you are capable of," Arc declared, "and luckily for us, I know what _you_ are capable of."

Arc twisted his wrist and tilted his blade, the flat of the weapon gleaming in the moonlight.

"I wasn't always a cyborg." Arc uttered loud enough for both of them to hear. Jaune, realizing what this meant, bore an eager smile with anticipation. Pyrrha wanted to advise caution; her fighter instincts warned her that Arc's capabilities were not to be trifled with. Yet the expression of her crush's face melted her words and she relented. Besides, she was also curious to see Arc's combat skill, too. Jaune readied Crocea Mors and faced off against Arc.

"Begin." Arc suddenly announced and rushed at his unready self with his sword ready for combat.

* * *

 **Author's note: [Redacted]**


	8. Chapter VII

**Author's note: [Redacted]**

* * *

 **Chapter VII**

Only a week stood between them and the start of the Fall semester. Between the start of their official second year at Beacon and the Vytal Festival Qualifications they all trained so hard for lay one final adversity for them to face: crammed, fully loaded classes. Coursework, tests, quizzes and papers all crammed into the span of weeks. Upon reflection, Ruby's intent for Team RWBY to spend time together doing something before the academic year started was validly advantageous in the long run. Yet for all of the team-bonding adventures and light-hearted calamity they shared, or caused in some instances, none of them could deny the need of a little time for personal space.

No sentiment of wisdom was ever truer than that to Blake. Which was exactly what brought her here strolling through the streets of Vale. The mid-morning light shined down on the city of Vale and its scarcely populated streets. Walking around with barely anyone present subliminally eased her introverted nature and allowed Blake to actually feel truly relaxed. The influx of people visiting from other kingdoms did make business hours during the day and evening more crowded, but hardly any tourists were meandering about in the haze of the morning.

The only sort of individuals roaming the city were the busy workers, the occasional Atlesian patrols, early-morning sightseers, her and-

"I can't believe it!" the charming native Vacuoan Faunus said walking beside her, "The Vytal Festival is nearly here!"

Blake rolled her eyes and did her best to keep her smile to herself as she listened to Sun's excitement. Leave it to him to accidently, as Sun insisted, run into her during her morning trip through Vale; to which afterwards he sort of stuck around despite promising not to hang around too long.

To be fair, however, Blake had not asked him to leave her yet either. Small, awkward talk quickly led into friendly conversations and banter about their summers before steering into the topic of the Vytal Festival. A small part of her harbored a trace of anticipation and eagerness to the whole idea of actually competing in the Vytal Festival, she kept her energy internal and personal. If anything, it made Blake more inclined to listen to boy geeking out next to her; somebody had to do it.

"Sun, we've known about this for months now." Blake pointed out, holding back the fact that he even smuggled himself into Vale prior to everything happening.

"Yeah but it still doesn't take away the fact that it's awesome." Sun retorted. "Honestly, could you've ever imagined yourself here, at this point in time, about to compete in the Vytal Festival?"

There were a lot of things Blake could have never imagined a long time ago. To name off a few examples, she would have never thought she'd witness first-hand the White Fang fall into extremism and end up abandoning the organization that had raised her. Nor she never would have pictured herself enrolling into Beacon Academy and receiving the proper training to become a fully-fledged Huntress.  
She especially did not foresee herself entrusting her support to a younger teenage girl into red and gushing with optimism, becoming close friends with said leader's boisterously strong older sister and Weiss, the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company.  
The Vytal Festival was only something extra to add to her list of unimagined.

"No, I never did." Blake answered with a barely noticeable upbeat in her voice. She glanced over at Sun and noticed a bright grin shine on his face. Whether it was due to the fact that recent experience and lessons she learned taught her how to open up or because Sun was merely present, Blake found herself holding back a smirk. Sun, doing his best to ignore that he made her smile, continued talking.

"And knowing our teams, we're practically the Vytal Champions of the future!" Sun declared.

Blake was about to respond with a quip about how there could only be one champion, but thoughts of the future rendered her mute. Blake felt her sobering determination begin to swallow her thoughts as she contemplated about the future. Considering all that had happened a last week, her fears of a bleak and hopeless future were gravely confirmed. The only thing they could do now, regrettably, was prepare to face the impending events. A task all but easy seeing that their cyberized time-traveling friend could only tell them limited information. It was Sun who snapped her out of her trail of thoughts before they became too complex.

"Uh Blake? Everything okay?"

"Yeah, just…thinking about the future."

"Oh. What about?"

Blake forced herself to sigh as she gathered her thoughts to explain.

"Do you remember what I told you about Arc?"

"Of course, the giant cyber knight from the future who's actually Jaune."

"Well his future has nothing but Grimm, destruction and death," Blake explained, "just knowing that that lies in store for our future is sort of…morbid."

"Wow, talk about dark and depressing," Sun commented, "Has he told you guys anything to stop it from happening?"

"He can't really tell us much because of the risks of Time Loop theory."

"Oh I see." Sun confirmed, but his eyes widened from realization, "Wait, he's already here and he's not fading from reality or disappearing?"

"Uh, no?"

"Then there shouldn't be any problem with him telling your futures!"

Blake stopped walking and stared at the ground with folded arms. Sun quickly pivoted around and patiently watched her struggle to see his logic. Blake tore her gaze away from the cobblestone sidewalk and locked onto Sun.

"How?"

"If this Arc guy is here now and hasn't blinked out of existence yet, then it should be safe telling you guys about the future he came from," Blake elaborated casually, "He did come face-to-face with Jaune, right? The Arc guy?"

"Yes, I was there when it happened."

"Okay good, that rules out the Temporal Paradox Explosion theory," Sun commented in relief before getting back to his point, "But as far as you can tell, his memories haven't been altered, right?"

Blake thought back to the mechanized knight. He still hadn't revealed any sort of information about any of them, despite the more extroverted teammates' attempts to get him to spill. She hadn't personally asked him any questions either out of safety. She could only speculate on what Arc remembered from the future. Judging from the intensity that he trained Jaune and Pyrrha with during their nightly spars, Blake imagined that his memories were what fueled his silent and ferocious determination. It was still unnerving to her how Jaune, the clumsy yet polite gentleman of a goofball, could change and be contrastingly stoic, harsh and downright cold.

"No, not that I know of..." Blake answered and loosened her stance, "What are you getting at, Sun?"

"Multi-verse Theory!" Sun proclaimed, "If Arc is still the same person he was in the future, despite meddling with his past self, then he's obviously from another dimension or something. Existential crisis averted right there!"

Blake fell quiet, staring the blond with abs as if he had told her he was the Headmaster of Shade Academy. And if he was, theoretically, telling the truth. Multi-verse Theory; a very plausible concept given the evidence and present factors that Sun thoroughly summarized. Why hadn't she thought of it before?

"And how do you know all of this?" Blake wondered, picking up where she left off with her stroll.

"Comic books and movies, duh." Sun replied brightly and resumed walking beside her, "Also it was a major plot device in one of Spruce Willis's old movies; I think it was Circler?"

Blake couldn't help but feel a tingle of ridiculous adoration towards him as they continued to walk through Vale to who-knew-where. All the while, Sun continued to talk. She didn't mind though; she was content with listening.

Unbeknownst to either of them, the two walked down the streets of Vale a little closer than they did before.

* * *

 **LATER...**

Arc narrowed his sights at the two combatants he faced. Before him coated in the moonlight stood his opponents, panting for air so their body could keep up with their exertion. His own sword and shield stilled in his grip as he waited for one of them to reinitiate the spar.

This was, after all, only a training session.

Jaune let out a growl and charged forward with a swipe. Arc's attention was already focused on Pyrrha lunging at him by the time he smashed his shield against Jaune's arching sword. Jaune grunted as his sword and arm bounced off as Arc sidestepped the jab from a spear, countering the lunge with a swipe from his shield. Pyrrha quickly adjust and parried the edge of his shield with her blade.

Scanners detecting movement plotted trajectory over his shoulder, Arc disengaged Pyrrha with force and held his sword in reverse so that its hilt crashed against Jaune's shield, halting the young man's barge. Arc immediately angled his shield behind him to block Pyrrha's strike before launching himself backwards in the air.

At the pinnacle of his backflip, Arc lashed out his sword, only to have it graze Pyrrha's shield.

'Good.' Arc thought as he landed and immediately charged with his own shield raised. The champion girl met his shield head on with hers and readied her sword to counter. All the while, Jaune had recovered and charged at him with his sword drawn to slash. Both of their movements had already been calculated and countered before they could even act.

Arc lashed out and knocked Pyrrha away with a kick before she could hit him and simultaneously parried Jaune's attack backwards with an upward cut. A downward slice knocked away Jaune's shield followed by a leg crashing into Jaune's exposed side. The blonde teenager yelped as he was painfully tossed sideways.

Arc barely batted an eye at his past self while he quickly raised his shield and sword to blocked Pyrrha's charge. The two of them clashed to a standstill. Arc steadily held Graucus Aegis against the trembling edges of Milo and Akuo. His robotic cerulean eye pierced her emerald eyes fueled by the fire-forged determination he knew she held within her.

Dismissing his thoughts, Arc took a step back and let Pyrrha's own strength throw her off balance before lashing out with a flurry of swipes. The champion girl quickly blocked each one of his attacks, but the incredible speed between each swipe prevented her from following up with a counter.

The cybernetic knight narrowed his eyes and increased the speed of his attacks. Now Pyrrha began to back up on the strict defensive.

His blade was gradually nipping away at her already reduced aura, but Arc was unrelenting.

He had to be.

Detecting movement from behind, Arc's neural systems alerted him of Jaune's incoming attack. He quickly spared one opening for Pyrrha to counter against before twisting his body right to catch Jaune's sword with his own. The Spartan girl seized the opportunity and lashed out only to find her attack blocked by a massive shield. There, Arc stood locked between the two combatants, barely faltering as he each of them back. Then he moved.

Arc quickly brought both of his legs up and kicked towards Pyrrha. She predictably raised her shield to block, but the sheer force sent her flying back. The cybernetic knight used the force to propel himself into Jaune, whom also was sent tumbling backwards.

Each of them cried out in pain as they skidded across the ground. Pyrrha, to her credit, painfully rose off the ground; Jaune, meanwhile, lay in a heap clutching his side. Lowering his weapons, Arc monitored the two separated fighters. According to his sensors, Jaune had 75% of his aura remaining while Pyrrha had 47%.

Additionally, his sensors notified him that six contacts were making their way up the staircase to the rooftop. He had to wrap this up.

"There has been improvement, but not much," Arc addressed, concluding their third sparring session for the night.

Ever since they had agreed to let him train them, Arc had hammered them nonstop with sparring, utilizing techniques ranging from all styles. His records allowed him to access all the battles that he witnessed and fought and incorporate every set of physical moves into his system, to which he could replicate with precisely 95% accuracy. With that advantage, he sparred against Jaune and Pyrrha every single night, making them perform counters and moves that he knew would ultimately make a difference in future battles. If not, then it was a good excuse to refresh his skillset and train them for what was yet to come through combat. Engaging in combat, as history taught him, was the only way for one to improve their prowess.

The clear evidence rested before him now: Pyrrha was more versatile than she ever was before and Jaune could actually stand against his light attacks.

With their practice close to being interrupted, Arc saw that any further continuation for now would prove futile and gracefully placed Graucus Aegis away. Jaune and Pyrrha managed to form confused expressions despite the exhaust and fatigue on their faces.

"We can't be done for the night," Jaune panted heavily in slight hysteria, "can we?"

Arc ignored him and silently turned his attention to the rooftop entryway just as the newcomers entered the scene.

* * *

In actuality, it was Nora who came bursting through the door with Ren and Team RWBY following suit.

"Heyyya frrriends, what're you guys…up…toooo?" Nora's voice drawled and faded at the sight of the rooftop carnage. Pyrrha had put away Akuo and Milo and was staggering her way over to help Jaune up, who had collapsed to the ground in sheer exhaustion at that point. Nora, Ren and the rest of Team RWBY began to gather around the combatants.

Yang pointed at Jaune's deadweight body, "Uhh, is he dead?"

"It feels like it." Jaune groaned. With Pyrrha tenderly slinging his arm over her shoulder, Jaune slowly rose to his feet and limped over to the rest of them. Arc observed the two teams assembled before him. A somber wave of nostalgia began to emerge from somewhere inside of him before it was whisked away. He waited silently for whatever purpose they came up here for.

"Arc, we've been doing some thinking," Ruby began, twiddling her fingers nervously, "and I know you told us you can't exactly tell what happens to us in the future because of sudden changes in reality…buut, we were wondering…if you could? Please? Cause we all really wanna know. Please?"

"I've already explained why I cannot, Ruby." Arc replied unemotionally.

"Then what do you know about the Multi-verse theory?" Blake asked. The cyber knight met Blake's inquisitive expression upon her usually stoic face. His high-tech brain paused and Arc was taken aback, though he did not show it. His mind triggered the databases he had and quickly retrieved all information. A brief second passed before Arc gave his answer.

"Multi-verse theory hinges on the possibility of other space-time continuums in existence instead of just one; alternate realities, if you will." Arc analyzed the feedback his databases were providing. Factoring the multi-verse theory into application of events yielded an entirely different scenario and outcome of his mission. If this theory was true, then that meant Project: Continuum and everything that they had done was for –

 _No._

"That is a theory I cannot accept," Arc mulled, "for if it was true, then everything up to now was for nothing."

"It can't just be pointless like that, though," Weiss interjected, "you're already here, stopping our bad future from happening."

"Yeah, like…" Jaune grunted sorely, "you can't just say everything you're doing now is changing nothing, right?"

Arc gave the blond teenaged boy a nod of approval. He knew that his past counterpart would understand his perspective.

"And speaking of the future and change," Ren added in, "we feel that knowing what our future holds will better prepare us."

"Yeah, what Ren said!" Ruby piped up, "Plus I think we've disproven a whole bunch of time theories already. So..um, please?"

Arc regarded the little red reaper who stared back at him, this time unwavering in her resolve. A long few seconds passed before he let out a conceded sigh. Ren's words echoed in his mind. Even in the past, his old friend was the one to always speak wise words. And he was right: if he was going to change the future, he had to do the most effective way to ensure that the Darkness of his time never prevails. Never.

Plus, Ruby did raise a valid point.

Arc quietly regarded the eight teenagers in front of him. Each glimmered with curiosity in their own way and were waiting for his answer.

"Alright, I will tell you your futures," Arc replied before looking down on his past-counterpart, "except yours, Jaune."

"What?! W-why?!" Jaune pleaded.

"If you were to know how I came to be, then I myself may cease to exist." Arc explained.

"B-but-"

"Can it, Vomit Boy!" Yang ordered avidly, "I wanna know what happens to me in the future!"

Jaune wanted to protest the unfairness, but he could see that it was everyone versus him on the matter.

"Fine." the blond teenager groaned and hunched over. Pyrrha reached out and placed her hand on her partner's shoulder and gave a squeeze. Jaune glanced over at Pyrrha's tender smile and managed one of his own. Neither of them needed to exchange words to get their message across.

"And only on the condition that I speak to Pyrrha alone." Arc added.

Pyrrha turned to the future cyber knight.

She hesitated and looked to everybody else. The rest of them seemed so eager to be told their futures, herself included, and she didn't want to deny them of this opportunity to know their destinies. But the specificity of Arc's term of condition still stuck out odd.  
Especially when it regarded about her.  
Hesitantly, she finally conceded.  
"Sure."

Arc nodded and began sorting through his memories on his friends. He didn't need a neural matrix system to retain all the memories and details on the fate of his friends, but it was helpful nonetheless.

After a moment, his robotically encased blue eye locked onto the silvers of Ruby Rose.

* * *

"I suppose we should start with you, Ruby Rose," Arc began, "Or I should say 'Reaper'."

Ruby blinked, "Wait, what?"

"Reaper," Arc repeated, "That becomes your codename, on the account of the thousands of Grimm you have killed."

" _That's so cool_." Ruby fawned.

"Eventually you become very annoyed by it when that's the only thing everyone refers you to as." Arc included. Ruby paused from her fangirling to consider Arc's words.

"Well…yeah. I mean, I see why she would…I mean, I see why _I_ would." A thought flickered into Ruby's mind and she eagerly clasped her hands together, "Oh, do I still use my beautiful lovely Crescent Rose?!"

"Yes," answered Arc, "You also create a Dust powered battle-axe akin to my blade, except it's also a shotgun, and you name it Crescent Rose-V2. Eventually, you combined both weapons and made a lethal fusion of the two; a weapon that proved most effective when you fought a Hydra Grimm Dragon. You become many things in the future, Ruby: the living symbol of hope for whatever is left in Remnant, the fastest thing alive – even faster than me – and ultimately the apex Huntress…"

Arc paused, "But for all of that, in the future, you are still my best friend."

Ruby somehow managed to calm herself down and stop squeeing enough to peer up at Arc with a blush, her eyes filled with adoration and a tiny smile to top it all off. Despite the sheer lack of emotion behind Arc's synthetic voice, she knew that his words were enough to mean it.  
Also the fact that her future self could move _faster_ than Arc made swoon over her future self even more.

* * *

"Alright hot stuff," Yang interrupted and knocked Ruby aside, "I wanna know how awesome I become! Hit me with _all_ the details!"

"In the near future, you lose your right arm."

Dead silence overtook everyone. Jaws dropped and eyes widened from shock, save for Arc who stood unfazed. The monotoned severity of his words crash down on all of them like a freight train. It took Yang a moment to find her voice, but even then it was nothing more than gibberish.

"I-I…w-wh…uhh," Yang stuttered, "I…you-"

"In the future, your right arm is cut off during an engagement," Arc alliterated. He watched Yang silently raise her right hand and stare in shock, curling her fingers and suddenly becoming consciously aware of her limb. Arc pressed on.

"You are given a new cybernetic arm by Atlas and continued on in the war against the Grimm, becoming one of the strongest hand-to-hand combat Huntresses, actively seeking out Grimm swarms and decimating them with Bumblebee V-3, also known as 'Hornet'."

Yang tried snapping back to her usual self, "I…guess that's pretty aweso-"

"And due to that thrill-seeking tendency, you end up losing your left arm."

"Wha-?!"

"Which is also replaced with a cybernetic arm, courtesy of the Atlas Technologies Division."

Everyone listening to the conversation choked on silence. It seemed as if all of this was the build up to a cruel joke that had way gone too far, but the seriousness and stoicism radiating from Arc conveyed the truth of his words. Everyone's eyes fell onto the blonde bruiser. Yang again snapped out of her daze, but instead of stuttering, her response was livid.

"Well gee, do I lose any other body parts?!"

"Unknown; we lost all contact with you when you chose to undertake a rescue mission solo for Blake," Arc responded, his eye narrowing slightly, "That was five years ago prior to Project: Continuum. You've been listed MIA ever since."

Yang lapsed into another lull of silence, taking in what her future beheld.

* * *

Arc shifted his sight to the Faunus girl, "Which brings us to your future, Blake. You become the commanding field agent of our underground-operations group: the Black Veil. You lead and oversee all our cloak and dagger operations and reconnaissance missions across Remnant."

"How...creative." Blake deadpanned.

"The Black Veil eliminated many rising faction that threatened to undermine Remnant's unity. One of your most successful achievements was the entire dismantlement of the White Fang."

Blake's unwavering expression faltered a bit, but she continued to listen to Arc.

"Six years prior to Project: Continuum, you discover a potential link leading to very heart of the Grimm forces and those commanding them. With our dwindling forces and limited supplies, you decide to follow this lead alone, not wanting to jeopardize what little we had left. Since your departure, we have not heard word from you since and you've been declared MIA."

Blake folded her arms across her chest and stepped away to hide her expression. Arc knew the Faunus girl was having a hard time stomaching his words and coming to terms with her own future actions. It was her own acts of pushing others away that drove her from them, the very instinctive acts that gotten her and her partner lost.

* * *

Arc then shifted his stare away from Blake to Weiss. The heiress braced her shoulders and mentally prepared herself.

"Weiss Schnee," Arc spoke, "You go on to cleanse the Schnee family name through all of your exploits as a Huntress and as an outspoken representative in uniting all of Remnant's kingdoms. You even responsible for a few of our victories against the Grimm. But sadly, your gracefulness does not last. You become physically incapacitated during a Grimm assault on Atlas, destroying all the muscles and most of the bones in your legs. Due to limited resources, Atlas is unable to create cybernetic prosthetics.

The look on Weiss's face hinted that she was trying her hardest not to show any signs of discomfort with her future destiny.

"Despite this, you find other means to make yourself applicable. You join the Atlas Technologies Division, applying your intellect, knowledge of Dust and prior Huntress experience to create new applications and advancements in every field. You even created the present version of my cybernetic body, designing and augmenting it to what I am now."

Weiss blinked, "That explains things quite a bit then."

Arc nodded, "Your mind and innovation is beyond amazing Weiss. For what it's worth: thank you."

Weiss's cheeks tinged red.

"I...well...you..." she stammered before her voice faded to a mumble, "you're welcome."

* * *

Finally, Arc's gaze landed on Nora and Ren. The green ninja calmly waited while the pink Valkyrie pretty much bubbled over with jittery excitement. The cyber knight held back a sigh. Aside from Pyrrha, these two were his best friends. He knew of their fates all too well.

"Nora and Ren, your destinies are intertwined in more ways than you can imagine." Arc said, hoping he wasn't giving away too much. Nora immediately stopped bouncing on her toes and covered her mouth with hands. Her eyes gushed with overjoyed delight as she stole a glance at the boy beside her. Ren, oblivious, awaited for Arc to continue.

"You both join me and become members of the Praetorians; an elite number chosen to safeguard the Regent from all harm."

"Wait, our future selves wear those codpieces too?" Nora asked in disbelief, gesturing at Arc's lower section.

"Yes, though you never seemed to mind it," Arc stated, "As for your fates, like Blake and Yang, they do not end well. Within years, the Praetorians slowly succumb to the overwhelming forces of Grimm."

The cyber knight paused and broke his gaze from the pair, his sight landing on his own metal body. The rush of crystal clear memories replayed in his head, but Arc held his resolve. His metallic claws traced over his armor.

"The battle that turned me into what you see now was the battle in which you both died," Arc said, "I can remember it clearly as ever: you both died in each others arms."

Nora's bubbling enthusiasm quickly faded as his words sunk in. Stricken, the Valkyrie tried to downplay it.

"Heh, well at least...that's a...th-that's a..." she trailed off, teardrops starting to fall from her eyes, "We... _die..._ like, actually... _die_."

Ren calmly moved to stand beside Nora and placed an assuring hand on his partner's shoulder. Her barriers breaking down, Nora forcefully threw herself into Ren and buried her face against his chest. Taken aback, Ren clumsily wrapped his arms around her and tried his best to be a source of calm, despite the fact that he too was having a harder time dealing with the news of his own death.

Arc watched the action in silence. Even now, the two were inseparable.

* * *

The nightly air felt weighted around the nine of them. Every one of them were taking the knowledge of the future in their own way, but every one of them revolved around a sullen sense of melancholy. Even Weiss and Ruby, who had much better off futures in comparison, still were demoralized by the fates of their friends. The impending future held no solace for them. Only destitution awaited them. In the thicket of silence came questions, unspoken questions driven by a seemingly delusional notion of confidence.

"No," Ruby's voice finally broke the silence, "that can't be how it ends."

Arc shifted his sight to Ruby. The little reaper clutched her fists together and stared up at him with unwavering determination. Her body trembled with resolve and her voice had taken on a whole new tone of assertiveness. It felt uncanny for the cyber knight to see the past-version of Ruby mirror her future self. Her firm stance, the impact of her voice and the willpower the flowed from her; even her silver eyes held a glint of hope to them.

The same kind of hope that drove Arc himself to fight on.

"It's like you said: you came back to the past to prevent all of this from ever happening," Ruby affirmed, "we can still stop all of this."

Yang slowly came out of her stupor, "Ruby's right, I haven't lost any arms yet."

Regaining her confidence, Nora pulled away from Ren's embrace and wiped away her tears. "Yeah, Ren and I are still here!"

"Correct," Arc nodded, "that is my mission, and I will do all that I can to guarantee the safety of the future."

Arc shifted his eye to Pyrrha, "Now if you will excuse us, Pyrrha and I must talk."

That seemed to snap everyone out of their daze. They still had to abide by their earlier agreement. Besides, all of them still were reeling from what Arc had told them and needed a minute, more or less. They started to depart from the rooftop, leaving Pyrrha alone with the future cyber knight that was Arc.

Already, talk amongst them sprouted as they were departing.

"Future me is so cool!"

"You vanished because of me..."

"Welp, that only goes to show that you need to let us in more, Blakey!"

"REN, WE BECOME AN ACTUAL BATTLE DUO!"

"Nora. Down. Please."

Before leaving, Jaune turned around and looked back at his partner.

"You going to be okay, Pyrrha?" Jaune asked.

Even against the fact that she had to do this alone, Jaune's concern melted her heart and formed a smile on the Spartan girl's face.

"Yes Jaune, I'll be fine."

Jaune forced a smile and nodded to his partner before looking past her at his future self.  
Arc merely stood there watching the exchange before his visible eye piece locked with Jaune's gaze. It was still strange for Jaune to look at his future self, knowing that he will one day become more mechanical and amazing than he could ever imagine. And though he would've really wanted to know exactly how he became a giant cyberized knight, Jaune knew better than to argue with his future self. With a nod, Jaune moved his sore body and left the two of them alone.

Pyrrha watched her partner leave and let out a sigh. From what she had heard of the others, she was unsure if she really wanted to know what became of her in the future. But they all did agree to this and her own curiosity got the better of her. And standing right behind her was the beholder of her destiny, cladded in marred white armor and augmented to the point of near inhumanity.

But she knew him as her partner's future self, and she knew that he knew her destiny.

Whether it be good or bad, this was a chance for her to discover it.

Undeterred, Pyrrha turned to face her destiny.

* * *

 **Author's note: [Redacted]**


	9. Chapter VIII

**Author's note: "Edgelord future cyborg Jaune"** **Hah, that's too good! I love it!**

* * *

 **Chapter VIII**

Arc found himself standing in an unusual silence. Normally, he lapsed into silence to either not waste words or to consciously process everything his neural matrix system logged and formulated. But now, out of all the things he had endured and done, Arc found himself rendered into silence by hesitancy. His mind had already sifted through his future memories of Pyrrha and compiled everything he needed to tell her, but Arc found himself unable to speak. He felt numb to the world.

Vaguely, Arc could feel the wind tousle his scruffy hair and brush across his face. He could feel his cognitive grasp begin to wane. He had been able to discuss everyone's futures so clearly before. Why was it now he was unable to speak?

Arc felt his systems quickly dampen his emotions and sap them away. The mental clamp that muted his synthesized voice dissipated and the constricted feeling in his chest left him. Drawing his cognitive attention forward, Arc regarded the warrior girl across from him.

Pyrrha looked at him unwavering, patiently waiting for him to begin. Yet for all of her bravery, Arc knew she was nervous. He had known her too well.

What came next had to be done.

His synthesized voice activated, "If you haven't realized it by now, what I'm about to say cannot be repeated to the others."

"I figured," Pyrrha replied solemnly.

"Good," Arc said, "are you familiar with the fairy tale of the Seasons?"

"Y-yes?" Pyrrha said, her expression bearing confusion. "I'm sorry, but what does this have to do with my future?"

"The fairy tale is true," Arc pushed on, "So is the unimaginable power wielded by the Maidens—and in my future, you become the next Fall Maiden."

Pyrrha's mouth hung open, "What?"

"Ozpin and his colleagues chose you to become the next Fall Maiden during the Vytal Festival. At first, I was bitter at the decision being forced upon you, but time and analysis have since revealed to me that it was for the best. Your skills, mindset and capabilities were unmatched. You were the perfect candidate to become the Fall Maiden. Naturally, you needed time to process and decide whether or not to wield this godly power. Unfortunately, time was not on our side. During the Vytal Festival, you are manipulated into killing Ruby's friend, Penny, which then incites the Battle of Beacon and the Grimm invasion of Vale."

Arc paused for a moment when he realized Pyrrha's expression changed from confusion to petrified shock.

Pyrrha's hands slowly covered her mouth, "I…kill…Penny?"

"You were manipulated; it was not your fault," Arc clarified, never breaking eye contact with her, "but the Battle of Beacon forces you to make a choice, and you chose to receive the power of the Fall Maiden."

Arc could see Pyrrha's eyes falter with the words he was speaking, but he couldn't stop now.

"Deep beneath Beacon Academy lies a vault with the comatose Fall Maiden. In the thick of the Battle of Beacon, both of us and Ozpin descend into the depths and begin to transfer the remaining half of the Fall Maiden's power into you. It is here when Cinder, the one who had stolen the other half of the Fall Maiden's power and put her in a comatose state, follows and attempts to take the remaining Fall Maiden's power. Ozpin and I hold her off in time for the power transfer to be completed, and then you, harboring your newfound powers, force her to retreat. We travel to the surface and you use your Maiden powers to drive off the invading Grimm.

"Thanks to live footage of the Battle of Beacon, the world of Remnant witnesses the destruction of Vale, the damaging of the CCT and the revelation of magic due to your usage of the Fall Maiden's power. With the Council of Vale no more, the people began to unite underneath Pyrrha Nikos, the new Fall Maiden, and thus the Autumn Empire is born."

"The Autumn Empire?" Pyrrha choked out.

"A kingdom like no other," Arc said, his gaze becoming distant and looking to the sky, "Humanity had witnessed your power and became enthralled by it. The entirety of Vale and the other kingdoms succeeded and submitted to you: the Regent of the Autumn Empire."

"Regent?" Pyrrha murmured solemnly, "Was that what everyone saw me as?"

"It was your official title," Arc explained, "You were like a living goddess that people rallied beneath to fight against the darkness of Grimm; a champion with immeasurable powers."

"But what was I to you, Jaune?"

Arc took notice of the distraught in her voice and the tears welling in her eyes.  
Somewhere in his heart, he momentarily felt a trembling grief rattle his core at the use of his first name. Momentarily.

Arc focused his eye back on Pyrrha, "You were my partner, Pyrrha, and my best friend. But above all else, you were my Regent."

Arc watched Pyrrha's resolve break in her eyes. The redhead girl buried her face in her hands and turned away from Arc, quietly sobbing.

A part of Arc urged him to close the distance between them. He could feel his own emotions stinging his heart and begin to take over his mind with every decibel detected from Pyrrha's sobbing.  
But against all his urges, Arc could not bring himself to take the first step.

It wasn't his place. The Pyrrha Nikos in front of him was not the same Pyrrha Nikos that Arc once knew. That Pyrrha Nikos, his Regent, had died years ago.

Unwilling to see the sight of Pyrrha crying, he slowly shifted himself, staring off at the landscape around them. He still had to tell this past version of Pyrrha the rest of what happened. Replaying the words exchanged a few moments ago, Arc decided on the next dialogue that would put their conversation back on track; or at least, help Pyrrha regain her focus.

"I am aware of your love for me, Pyrrha," Arc said.

Pyrrha ceased to sob and froze in her place. Realizing the implications in his words, Arc hastily clarified himself.

"For Jaune, I mean; I know you are in love with your partner. By the time I realized your feelings, it was already too late."

"What do you mean?" she asked, not bothering to face him.

Arc reoriented himself so that it wasn't just his mask piece looking at her, "We were close, but reciprocating your feelings fully wasn't my priority; your protection was. That was why Nora, Ren and I created the Praetorians: to protect you. While many gathered under the Autumn Empire, there were those who sought the power of the Fall Maiden for themselves, and the only way of acquiring it was through your death, and assassination attempts were frequent."

Arc briefly glanced downward at the roof he stood on, "Love felt trivial when compared to the duty of protecting the Autumn Empire, much less all of Remnant."

Pyrrha finally turned back around. Through her tear-stricken face, she somehow found enough courage to meet his cerulean gaze.

"What happens to this Autumn Empire?" she asked.

"After a second Grimm invasion destroys Vale and Beacon, and we retreat to the island of Vytal. The other three kingdoms relinquish control to you and form the Autumn Empire. Its capitol is established within the ruins at Vytal. From there we wage a mass war against the Grimm across Remnant: the Autumn Empire versus the forces of darkness. Unlike the Great War long before, this war is for survival and ensuring that we, humans and faunus alike, may live to see another day in Remnant."

Arc paused, "The war costs us all greatly. Millions join the armies of the Autumn Empire to fight the Grimm, and millions are killed under its banner. Eventually, the hordes of Grimm attack Vytal to kill you and take your Maiden powers, but we repel them at great costs. In addition to the losses we sustained in the attack, Nora and Ren are killed and I am destroyed beyond what my immense aura can heal. As a result, I am turned into the cyborg you see me as today."

Arc reached up and grasped the charred piece of metal that hung from his neck, mentally bracing himself for his next words. Pyrrha noticed the action, but remained silent.

"A year or so would go by before the Grimm attack Vytal a second time. And though we repel the Grimm, you are killed. Without you, the Autumn Empire collapses and all that's left are the shattered kingdoms of Atlas, Mistral and Vacuo. Years later, Project: Continuum is complete…and you know the rest."

Arc concluded his words. It felt odd to remember his past while presently trying to erase it.

An exhale left his nose and he released the piece metal from his hand. A part of him wanted to tell Pyrrha its significance, but Arc speculated it might be a bit too much for her to handle. Especially since said item was directly related to Pyrrha.

"That item around your neck…that's my circlet, isn't it?" the redhead asked quietly.

Arc froze. He should have been paying more conscientious attention to where her eyes were staring. But the item strung around his neck was already the center of focus, and who was Arc to deny her when she was right?

"Yes." he replied.

He didn't need to tell her that it was all that was left of her after her fateful battle. He didn't have to tell the details of the battle either; about how Cinder gained the rest of the Fall Maiden's powers or the colossal battle against her and Ruby, Qrow and him. She didn't need to know that Qrow succumbed to his fatal wounds or that he lost half his helmet in the fight, nor the devestating aftermath.  
The message of her death was as real as the charred metal around his neckpiece.

Pyrrha slowly hung her head and shut her eyes. Arc patiently waited. The two of them just stood on the rooftop, one conflicted with a burden of emotions and one feeling no emotions at all. Finally, one of them spoke.

"Why me?" Pyrrha asked, her voice barely holding together, "Why does this all revolve around me?"

Arc held his voice for a moment. Long ago, he would ask the same question time and time again. Time had since taught him to accept what was and continue moving forward, but Pyrrha's question echoed his own from so long ago. He could tell her every event and consequence that led up to what had happened in-depth, but Arc knew that wasn't what she was asking for.

"Perhaps it was destiny." Arc answered.

It was the only explanation that he could think of. The Pyrrha that Arc knew often believed in destiny and how it worked in mysterious ways. Fates that nobody could fight against.  
It was a belief that he himself disagreed with, seeing as he had time traveled avert this destined future.  
But the fact that said future, his past, had happened and accumulated to this present?  
Maybe it was destined to do so.

His sensors detected an elevation in her heartbeat. He noticed that Pyrrha's hands were balled into fists. Something had stirred within the champion girl and now bore fiery determination in her eyes. Through her tears, Pyrrha glared at him with bitter resolution. Arc found himself slightly taken aback, he had never seen Pyrrha with that look before.

"I...used to believe that, but no," she spoke, her voice trembling with strength, "I believe…that my destiny…is mine to decide."

Arc said nothing as she turned and rapidly made her way to the rooftop exit. He remained standing there even when he could no longer detect her combat heels clicking against the floor. He even still stood unmoving when she was out of range for his scanners. Undoubtingly, she would've returned to her dorm with the rest of her teammates and wouldn't speak a word of what he had just revealed to her, that much he could trust her to do. Standing there alone on the rooftop training ground, Arc let his shoulders droop and he stared up into the night sky. The stars and shattered moon still orbited around Remnant just like always. Quietly, he replayed the memory in his head.

 _"Why me? Why does this all revolve around me?"_

 _"Perhaps it was destiny."_

 _"I...used to believe that, but no...I believe…that my destiny…is mine to decide."_

Arc closed his eyes. He had to concentration on the present: he was here in the past working to guarantee an absolute safe future. For humanity. For faunus. For the sacrifices and lives of everyone lost. For Pyrrha. Here was his chance to change everything, but nothing was going to change unless he took the initiative.

Running the calculations in his head, Arc knew what he must do.

* * *

Pyrrha felt the tears cascading off her cheeks. Her heart was thrummed against her chest with every hurried stepped she took. Everything around her felt wrong.

Amidst her sobs, her mindset and very being were reeling from all that she was told. Remembering Arc's words brought up the wretched feeling of grief that overtook her too many times tonight. The first time the feeling came over her, when Arc revealed that she killed Ruby's friend Penny, made her want to tell Arc to stop.  
Except her curiosity got the better of her and she blindly listened onward. Arc's words struck her harder than any Grimm or opponent ever had so far.

Rubbing her eyes, Pyrrha swallowed the bitter feeling and pressed on. The bitter feeling instead made its way to her gut and began to fester, fueled by the thoughts that plagued her. She paused for a moment to sift through everything and regain herself. It wasn't so much of the fact that the fairy tale of the Seasons actually was real that bothered her the most. It was that in the future that Arc hailed from, millions of people worshipped her. Millions of people placed her higher than any pedestal she could imagine. Pyrrha, the champion girl, became the goddess of an empire.

It was the exact opposite of what she wanted.

Even worse, those millions of people died for the very empire that she ruled. To Pyrrha, that made _her_ responsible for all those deaths.

The guilt she was experiencing pulsed through her psyche. Arc's words not only filled Pyrrha with guilt and solidified her fears, they goaded her belief in destiny. Was it her destiny to be placed on such a high pedestal, unapproachable by all? Was it the destiny of all those millions who rallied underneath her to perish? Was it her destiny to be killed merely for her power? Her future-self's circlet was right in front of her this whole time, testifying to her future self's destiny!

Yet somehow, amidst the storm of her emotions, Pyrrha discovered the raw strength to break through. She found the resolve to overcome her thoughts and shatter her belief in destiny. It was up to her to decide her own destiny.

Halting her steps, Pyrrha now found herself standing outside of JNPR's dorm door. Drawing from the simplicity of the door, Pyrrha closed her eyes and attempted to calm herself down. Her resolve lingered inside her, but she was beyond fatigued from everything. The grief and distraught that accompanied her knowledge continued to gnaw at her. Fragments of Arc's words kept echoing in her mind.

"... _manipulated into killing Ruby's friend, Penny..."_

 _"...Pyrrha Nikos, the new Fall Maiden..."_

 _"A living goddess to the people who rallied beneath you."_

 _"...Millions are killed..."_

 _"...You are killed..."_

 _"Perhaps it was destiny."_

Pyrrha shoved her thoughts aside and opened the door. The room's lights were still on. Everything seemed the same as she had left it earlier. To her surprise, her teammates were awake. Jaune sat at the desk nearby with homework and a pencil, Nora lay flat on the floor with her headphones jamming away, and Ren had his back pressed against the bedframe while he read a book.

All three of them glanced to her at her entry, and their initial cheerful expressions immediately turned to shock. Pyrrha's concentration to hide her sadness broke with the sight of Ren and Nora. Looking at the two caused another horrid fact to resurface in Pyrrha's mind: her best friends died for her too.

She couldn't keep it together any longer. The walls inside her broke and her body swayed. She felt weak. The sobs and tears Pyrrha sought to hide from her friends poured out with no resistance.

The cries of her friends were distant to her ears. The redhead girl felt Jaune's firm hands grasp her shoulders to steady her and his voice ask her something. Instinctively, Pyrrha clung to his clothes and cry. Pyrrha dimly felt Jaune lower her to the floor, but she pressed her crying self into Jaune's warmth when she felt his arms cradle her. Nora and Ren had also ran up to her to comfort her too. She was a mess.

 _What did I do to deserve such amazing friends?_

Her next thought, though, released another flood of grief.

 _Why did they deserve to die for me?_

A minute or so passed before she began to regain awareness of the room around her.

"Pyrrha?"

Jaune's softened voice pierced through the dispersing fog in her mind. Sniveling, her teary emerald eyes met his. The deep cerulean eyes that cared for her so much in that moment. Pyrrha's breath silently hitched.

Despite it being Jaune's face that she gazed into, the boy who was the center of all her affections, her devastated mind flashed back to Arc.

A glowing mask piece covering his right side, an eyepiece encased over his left eye and a metallic jaw flashed over Jaune's face. She choked on another sob. How could this sweet, charming, dense, dorky boy she loved ever turn into the callous, cold-hearted machine that was Arc?

Pyrrha silently broke eye contact and buried her tears against Jaune. Without a word, Nora and Ren patiently waited and Jaune pulled the redheaded girl ever so closer.

* * *

 **Author's note: Woe... pardon the pun. I tried to execute this scene as best as I could in attempts to add what I believe was missing: relatable emotions. Because RWBY isn't just about awesome fight scenes and comedy, it's also about the emotions. Feels truly draw us in.** **  
**

 **But then again, I cannot comprehend what it's like to know that your future-self is hailed as a goddess, ruled an empire, have millions die in your name against your wishes, have your best friends die so you may life, and ultimately die yourself because somebody killed you for power.  
**

 **But yeah. RWBY Volume 5 is now over.  
There were things I liked, disliked, and thought could be improved upon. That, however, is normal.  
I do hope that Volume 6 focuses on the emotional impact over the events in Volume 5's Finale. Seriously, there are major character building opportunities that can be capitalized on here. **

**See yall in the next chapter. Thanks for stopping by.**


	10. Chapter IX

**Chapter IX**

Professor Ozpin sat at his clockwork desk in deep contemplation. His eyes traced over the digitally displayed lists of academic duties he need address for the day before finally landing on the mug containing his fresh morning brew. Reluctantly, Ozpin picked up his mug and resigned himself to work. Contrary to popular belief, the responsibilities and workload of being the Headmaster of Beacon Academy allowed little time for freedom, though that never stopped him from taking time off before. In the harsh world of Remnant that they lived in, whether ravaged by Grimm or mortal conflict, peace of mind was a luxury.  
Sadly, it was a luxury taken for granted nowadays. A finite luxury guaranteed to soon be ripped away from them unless they could do something about it.

Taking a brief sip, Ozpin's attention was interrupted by the faint rumblings of the elevator gears moving. The noise would have otherwise gone by without notice had it been any other time of the day, but everything noise seemed acute in the morning haze. Rechecking one of the displays on his desk, Ozpin furrowed his brow. There wasn't an appointment listed on the schedule. Setting down his mug, Ozpin pressed a spot on his desk and made all the lists vanish for the time being. Opzin patiently awaited with folded hands for whomever was arriving.

 _Ding!_

The elevator doors parted to reveal their residential future cyborg.

"Good morning, Mr. Arc."

Arc lumbered into the office chamber, "Professor."

Ozpin took a brief pause to study the being before him. Despite being fairly acquainted, it still fascinated the professor that the person in front of him was a living herald of the future, much less his student once upon a time. Yet, despite the awe, his presence alone reminded Ozpin of what was yet to come.

"And what might bring you here today?" Ozpin asked.

"It's about Jaune."

Ozpin idly adjusted his glasses, "I take it that your instruction is going well?"

Arc paused for a moment, "Yes and no; he needs much more training before he's at a competent ability for what is yet to come."

"I see."

"In order for this to happen, he needs more time to train, which is why I requesting that Jaune be exempted from all his classes in order to make room for further training."

The easeful atmosphere suddenly became rigid. Ozpin calmly locked his gaze with Arc's. The silence between them was only punctuated by the CCT's ambient metallic ticking. Ozpin gave considerable thought before he finally spoke.

"I am afraid I cannot do that, Mr. Arc," Ozpin answered. Though the cybernetic knight never moved, the headmaster could see the subtle affronted look in his visible eye.

"Why not?" Arc questioned.

"Because Jaune is, first and foremost, a student and therefore must take his enrolled classes."

Arc's eye narrowed slightly, "The future is at risk here and you insist he continue playing the role of a mere student?"

Ozpin straightened himself in his seat, "Knowledge is what keeps us safe, Mr. Arc, and surely you learned a thing or two in your classes during your time as a student here, correct?"

"Yes," Arc admitted, "but I can teach him what he needs to know."

"And...what exactly does he need to know, Mr. Arc?"

"Maneuvers, techniques, Dust application, his range abilities," Arc listed off, "I could go on."

"In addition to refining his combat abilities?"

"To accomplish both, I need Jaune to be more available, which brings me back to my request."

"Your request sounds more like a demand."

Arc's shoulders tensed, but no retort came. Ozpin calmly grabbed his mug and took a long sip of his drink before returning to their conversation.

"Jaune," Ozpin began, "you know as well as I do that the Darkness has eyes and ears everywhere, including here at Beacon. Like I said before, if we are to counteract our infiltrators, we must conceal our actions. You've already given us the advantage we so needed, but the enemy doesn't know that. They don't know we know their identities. Any sort of irregular behavior or action and we lose this advantage. Allowing a current student to attend Beacon without having to take any classes blares suspicion as clear as day."

"My point still stands, Professor," Arc replied, "we don't have much time."

"Indeed," Ozpin said and set his mug down.

With intertwined fingers and a leg crossed over, the headmaster looked up at the giant cyborg.

"I will allow Jaune to drop a few of his classes to grant more time for your training," Ozpin explained, "but he still must meet the minimum amount to be considered enrolled."

"He needs more time than that," Arc muttered grimly, already having done the calculations in his head.

"That is my ultimatum, Mr. Arc."

The two of them stared at each other for a long moment. It was an unspoken battle of wills between the two. Though both of them wanted the same thing, neither could seemingly agree on how to go about it. Ozpin knew that his methods did not suit well with Arc, given his reaction back when the cyborg was informing his inner circle of future events, but Arc had agreed to his methods before. Ozpin only hoped that Arc would do so once more.

"So be it," Arc conceded, "I will inform Jaune of our agreement."

With that said, Arc turned around and made his way to the elevator. Ozpin watched him go, noting the scratches and blemishes coating the backside of his armor.

"Jaune," Ozpin said.

Arc silently glanced over his shoulder. Only the helmeted side of his face and its glowing eye slits peered at the Headmaster.

"Have faith," Ozpin implored, "we will save the future."

Once the elevator opened, Arc reverted his head and stepped inside the compartment. Ozpin continued to watch until the cyborg departed from sight. Quietly, he pulled out his scroll.

* * *

"When will it be finished?"

"In due time, I assure you."

"We don't have time, General."

An exasperated groan almost slipped from General Ironwood. It had already been a dismal situation that brought him and his military to the Kingdom of Vale. Then it is revealed that everything they feared becomes a tangible reality and destroys his fleet, the Kingdom of Vale and Beacon Academy. But with dreadful apprehension came foretelling knowledge, to which General Ironwood seized and acted upon.

Which is what brought him here. The days following their meeting with the future cyborg found the General fortifying all of his fleet's defenses and, most importantly, upgrading the network mainframe that controlled every single Atlesian android stationed with them. The first of these two tasks was moderately simple; the latter was far more complex.

Around him in the flagship command center, bustling Atlesian technicians were hard at work trying to reconfigure the entirety of the fleet's networks. Such a task required not only rewriting codes and uploading new programs to purge the former ones, but the dismantlement and reassembly of a few major systems housed within the airships. All while still keeping the fleet on standby in case of emergencies.

Despite renowned Atlesian ingenuity and astute intelligence, the process was incredibly slow.

"I am fully aware," General Ironwood said to the screen in front of him. Displayed on the screen was the future cyborg himself, calling for an update on the progress. While the General was technically not obligated to answer to the man, he still felt inclined to inform. It was the least he could do after all the future cyborg had told him.

"My men have made a small amount of progress thus far, roughly two percent, but it is hard to give an accurate estimation," the General reported, "the process is turning out to be more extensive than we predicted."

"At this rate, General, your systems won't be fully restored by the time the Vytal Festival begins." Arc remarked sharply.

General Ironwood grimaced, "We are working around the clock with everything we have, but even then, we can only do so much."

"Do what you must, General," Arc said, "the safety of Remnant depends on it."

The pressing weight of stress on his shoulders seemingly increased, much to the discomfort of the headmaster of Atlas. Despite the pressure, the man still held a steadfast demeanor. It would certainly be unwise for him to show any signs of losing his composure, especially in front of his men who viewed him as a guiding presence. The very same men hard at work revamping their very own Atlesian technology. With that note in mind, a thought suddenly came to General Ironwood.

He turned his attention back to the cybernetic being on the miniature screen, "Perhaps you could help us then? With your body being comprised of advanced Atlesian tech, surely you could offer us a better means to speed this up?"

General Ironwood watched Arc's head tilt in what he assumed was contemplation and noticed readings flutter across Arc's eyepiece, undoubtingly data. It didn't take long for Arc to reply though.

"I cannot assist with that," Arc stated, "my neural programs and databases are designed to compensate for my lack of biological senses, store memory, make decisive calculations and increase my efficiency in combat; none that would aid in rewriting entire command systems."

"Atlas doesn't have that level of technology in the future?" the General asked.

"No, we do, but my Mark VI-Centurion Stealth body was never installed with such," Arc admitted, "a network coding program provides zero advantages when combating hordes of Grimm."

"I see," Ironwood muttered, placing a gloved hand over his chin. He understood the mentality of being a soldier, which Arc evidently was, and could relate to the need of utilizing what was required to be solely combat ready. But such mentality had, unknowingly, cost them a prime opportunity.

"Is there any way you could possibly help us in this?

Arc paused for a moment, "No, but perhaps Penny Polendina can assist where I cannot."

This garnered a subtle yet visible shock from the General. Only two people knew of the mechanical of Penny Polendina: himself and Penny's creator. Not even Ozpin knew of it. To the world, she was just a normal girl.

Arc took noticed and calmly pressed on, "Her background is known to me, General; the Penny in my timeline had exceptional computer skills."

General Ironwood felt his nerves die down and his judgment return, "But that was in _your_ timeline. How are we to know if Miss Polendina is capable of such a feat right now?"

"She is able to learn, General," Arc said, "and for the sake of Remnant, I hope she learns fast."

General Ironwood nodded in agreement. Though the current situation was still the same, at least they now had something - someone - to assist them. Why didn't he think of utilizing Penny sooner?  
But now was not the time for self berating. They had more knowledge in hand. Perhaps they could circumvent the future after all.

"Thank you for your help, Arc," General Ironwood said, "our actions today and ongoing will prepared us for the Vytal Festival and ensure the safety of Remnant permanently."

"On that we can agree entirely, General."

The video transmission ended.

* * *

The brisk coastal breeze swept through the silent, moonlit streets of the warehouse district. Ever since the White Fang recruiting event-turned-fiasco, the decimated area, courtesy of Roman Torchwick piloting a stolen Atlesian Paladin-290, lacked any activity whatsoever. Any stolen goods and equipment once stored in these areas had been moved to safer and more remote locations once the Vale Police Department began sending a few of their men-in-black-suspenders to probe around. Now with both Torchwick's syndicate and the White Fang operations moved elsewhere, all that remained now were the abandoned buildings and litter stirring around from the breeze.  
And one dark-skinned, mint-green haired girl roaming through the place.

Emerald Sustrai's red eyes leisurely gazed about her surroundings. She really didn't have a reason to be out, much less in a rundown place like this, but couldn't a girl just go for a walk? With the start of the semester in a few days and the Vytal Festival coming sooner, it felt like everything around her had begun to pick up speed. On a calm night like this, there was no better way to clear her head of her roaming thoughts.

But with every step she took, Emerald's mind continued to linger on the most insidious yet fervent thought of all: Cinder's plan.  
Her thoughts trailed back to her mentor/savior and their carefully thought out plan. While she personally would have done things a bit differently, Emerald would never dare question Cinder's judgment and decisions. Everything had to align perfectly if they were to bring down everything around them. From the city of Vale to Beacon Academy to the Amity Colosseum, it would all come crashing down.

That thought gave Emerald pause though. A small part inside of her knew that this was wrong. Lives would be lost. Innocents would perish. Everything around her that she had become somewhat familiar with would be gone. All because of this plan, this manipulatively complex plan, of Cinder's.  
With pressed lips, Emerald squelched the insignificant wrench in her gut and reasserted what she already knew deep down inside: she didn't care about the consequences, she was doing this for Cinder.  
Cinder, the woman who pulled her off the streets and gave her a life. A purpose. _Everything_.

These people have done _nothing_ for her. While young children slept cozily in their beds with naïve dreams of prosperity and adventure, Emerald had scavenged the streets for her next meal and survival in the nightmare of life.  
Society had casted her out a long time ago. It had taught values of good and help to live by while it ruthlessly threw her out to fend on her own.  
Remnant never cared for her and she gladly returned the favor.

'It's a decent night at least,' Emerald breathed in her head. She pushed her thoughts aside. She didn't even think about the Vytal Festival; she had time to worry about that later. Now was a rare moment of peace and quiet all to herself alone. The best part of it all? Mercury wasn't even around to ruin.

Emerald's muscles tensed with unease. It was a too familiar feeling she had grown accustomed to all her life. She wasn't alone anymore. A stranger had entered the scene unbeknownst to her. Emerald froze and whipped around with her kamas aimed and ready. Her red eyes scanned the empty street, slowly darting at every shadow. Whomever was following her was hiding, but still watching. Taking a step back, Emerald continued to seek out her stalker until a tiny glimpse of glowing blue caught her eye on top a building. She craned her head up to see and felt her breath hitch in response.

Rising on the shadowy ledge and into the pale moonlight stood the cybernetic knight, cladded in white power armor and all. She had heard the many rumors of this individual from the gossip around Beacon. Some said he was an new Atlesian Paladin prototype controlled by an A.I. Others claimed he was just a guy in a very advanced tech suit. But out of all speculation, Emerald was now certain of one thing: he was real and his asymmetrically helmeted face was boring down at her.

It was unsettling.

"You know that's totally weird, right?" Emerald finally spoke, trying to ease up the situation and calm her nerves.

The cybernetic knight remained silent and unmoving. Every muscle in her body screamed at her to run, but Emerald saw no reason to. In fact, this was probably a great opportunity to gain some information on this unknown being for future use. How could Cinder manipulate this cybernetic knight? Her cautioned curiosity goaded her on, but the other's refusal to speak soon kept her on edge.

"Seriously, why are you following me?" Emerald demanded.

This time the cybernetic knight responded. It was a non-verbal response, but the action conveyed the message to Emerald crystal clear: the cybernetic knight reached behind him and unsheathed the massive sword from his back.

Her eyes widened at the pale hunter.

Emerald Sustrai ran.

The cybernetic knight pursued.

* * *

 **Author's note: Action is coming. ACTION IS COMING.**

 **But on a serious note, all of your critique and comments are appreciated, whether they are positive or burning flames. At this point in writing, I'm testing the balance of writing long and extensive with short yet powerful (or relatively speaking). "Why say 1000 words when you can convey the same message with 100?" and vice versa. Would writing a long and powerful be too exhausting for the average reader?**

 **Dishwasher1910 made new Future-RWBY drawings! Check them out when you get the chance. As usual, Dishwasher's artwork is highly impressive. And as for how the Future 3.0 drawings fit into "Future Restructured" future-verse lore... I am purposely leaving it ambiguous. That way any new drawings don't directly conflict with the established future-verse lore in "Future Restructured". This story is about Future-Jaune trying to change the past, not about the other Future-characters.  
** **But had I known that Future-Ruby would have gotten prosthetic legs, I would have absolutely included that when I was writing Chapter VII.**

 **Till next chapter! Thanks for everything.**


	11. Chapter X

**Author's note: There was a little error in the last chapter. It's fixed now.**

* * *

 **Chapter X**

Emerald ran through the abandoned Warehouse District. Her heartbeat was thundering in her head and her breaths were strained from her continuous sprint. All the while exerting her semblance in an attempt to lose her pursuer. Using her semblance on a moving target while moving herself was hard. Emerald projected the illusion of herself running down the street while she herself veered into the darkness of a nearby alleyway. She concentrated on her illusionary self until the muffled footsteps of her pursuer above were heard no more, hoping that her attacker had run on ahead.

Keeping silent, Emerald sheathed her kamas and fumbled for her scroll. She needed to contact Cinder for backup.

'This isn't good,' she muttered in her head.

Taking on her assailant was the last thing Emerald wanted to do, what with his tenacity and speed. Emerald knew very well when someone outclassed her out skillset. But if pressed, she would fight. Until then, the best course of action she could do right now was to escape and regroup with Cinder. They needed to know they had a new foe on their trail. A dangerous foe.

Emerald took out her scroll and began to unlock the device, but a glimmer of white movement across its screen caught her attention.

She immediately lurched to the side, avoiding the massive blade and cyber-knight that shattered her hiding spot. The landing force slammed into Emerald's body and tossed her further down the alleyway. Instinctively, she tumbled and rolled on the pavement, throwing in a somersault to straighten herself out.  
The ache in her right hand and the electronic shards she spotted beneath the cyber knight alerted the thief of what just happened.

"Damn it," Emerald cursed and drew her kamas.

* * *

Arc pulled his sword out of the cratered pavement, the blade loudly scraping against the stone ground. His sight briefly glanced over what was left of the shattered scroll to confirm its destruction. His blade would have sunken through Emerald's heart had she not dodged in time, except impaling her wasn't Arc's primary objective for his attack; her means of communication was.  
With that finally eliminated, Arc squared himself up against Emerald Sustrai, whom was already backing away. His mind was already formulating the best course of action.

She was cornered in the alleyway. If he lunged, she would more than likely slip past him and continue running, ensuring another pursuit. Even if he predicted which pathway she would choose, there was too much a percentage of her getting past him. That left only one choice of action: ranged attacks.

Arc raised his sword and swiped forward. The sheer strength and speed behind the motion pressurized the air and launched a visible cleave of wind rocketing down the alleyway. The broad slash of air sliced over Emerald's ducking frame and continued onward until it carved into the rear concrete wall. Arc swiped again and fired off another razor-wind cleave. The wind cut through the air, but still missed and struck the back wall.

Emerald, having dodged the second airstrike, raised her kamas and began firing. Gunshots echoed in the empty district as dust rounds pelted against Arc's raised shield. The cyber-knight thrusted his blade past his defense and unleashed an onslaught of air slashes.

A torrent of deadly razor-winds and dust rounds filled the alleyway. Arc stood his ground behind his shield and launched consecutive razor-winds while Emerald continued to fire back and barely avoid the cutting air strikes.

Each missed razor-wind slashed into the back wall of the alley until it could no longer withstand. The concrete wall crumbled with a loud crash, creating a makeshift opening into an abandon warehouse. Emerald immediately noticed and fell back through the access-way.

* * *

Rushing forward, Arc launched himself through the opening in time to see Emerald's body vanish.

The cyber-knight blinked, only to find himself suddenly corralled by Emeralds.

From the catwalks above to standing on the cargo crates to nearby covering positions, the Emeralds were all throughout the warehouse. Dozens and dozens of dark-red irises bore down upon him. Many of them aimed their kama revolvers at Arc while some approached with their blades swinging.

"Why are you trying to kill me?!" one of the Emeralds on his right spat.

Arc craned his head to regard the speaker.

"What did I ever do to you?!" another Emerald on his opposite flank demanded.

The many other Emeralds began demanding answers and asking questions, their voices in a distorted overwhelming unity. Shouts and whispers reverberated everywhere.

The situation brought up memories and files of combat data from another time.

Arc remained unmoved. With a push of his mind, activated his optical sensors and filters. His eyepiece and fractured mask glowed bright cerulean. Arc's vision was bathed in shades of blue, highlighting every piece of debris and object scattered about the warehouse. Through the sight of optical sensors and scans, the dozens and dozens of speaking Emeralds disappeared.  
Nothing but empty space and silence remained, except for the one contact on catwalk above.

Arc craned his neck around to gain a better view of the situation, feigning to observe the Emerald illusions around him and passing his gaze over the highlighted contact above.

Arc withdrew a yellow Dust crystal from his armor's compartments and slammed it into his sword's guard slot.

The massive blade of Graucus Aegis ignited yellow.

"Your semblance fails you, Sustrai," Arc growled.

* * *

Seeing her attacker's sword cackle with electricity and hearing his words made Emerald flinch, but not enough to drop the barrage of illusions her semblance conjured. But when the cyber-knight suddenly rocketed to the catwalk directly at her, her concentration broke.

The catwalk violently buckled and creaked with every movement. Electrifying slashes singed the empty space she previously was with every dodge and evade. Emerald instinctively parried a swipe with her kama, but the brief contact of her blade against his sent a blistering jolt through her arm, nearly numbing her arm and dropping her weapon. She only managed a curse before throwing herself back as far as she could to disengage.

Emerald landed on the other end of the catwalk. Contracting her arm to shake off the electrocution, she glared into the glowing cerulean lights of her attacker's face. If she wasn't aware of how outclassed her skills were, she was now.

She needed to escape. She needed to-

The cyber-knight unleashed a razor-wind, the electricity from his blade channeling into the attack. Emerald ducked beneath the sizzling air cleave, retaining her focus and open firing. Limited by the narrow catwalk, the cyber knight raised his shield to block her shots. Bullets pinged off the piece of metal as the cyber-knight charged at her. The catwalk shook with every step.

 _Now!_

Emerald swiped the catwalk beneath her and dashed forward. Sustaining her fire, she ran up the descending catwalk towards the cyber-knight. Only when she flung and hooked one of her kamas into the ceiling did the rain of bullets slow. The cyber-knight adjusted his footing on the falling catwalk and lunged forward.

One good tug on her weapon's chain was all it took send Emerald up and over her attacker, whose own lunge now carried him down the catwalk and further away from her. The momentum dislodged her kama from the ceiling and sent Emerald careening across the warehouse. Her trajectory put her landing path right on the other still intact end of the catwalk, but a familiar sizzling from behind caught her attention.

Emerald managed to angle herself around in time to see the electrified razor-wind cut into her.

Emerald cried out in pain as the air convulsing with electricity cut straight into her. Though her aura absorbed most of the attack and the devastating cut of air, the electricity still spasmed all over and touched her, sending jolts throughout her entire body. Completely numb from electrocution, Emerald barely felt her body slam against the end of the catwalk and fall off. She managed to open her eyes in time to see a pile of crates before crashing through them and hitting the hard floor.  
The groaning and snap of metal caught her attention and Emerald glanced up in time to see the other end of the catwalk above her fall.

Dust and debris flew everywhere when the rest of the catwalk came crashing down, shrouding everything in the warehouse with a thick cloud of dust. The crash echoed throughout the warehouse until it died away, replacing only with the late reaction of debris crumbling.

A hoarse cough followed the shifting of a rubble pile.

Somehow, Emerald managed to drag herself out of the debris, pushing herself to her feet and reorienting to the surroundings. Feeling slowly trickled back to her senses, but she knew she had to be on high alert.  
When the dust cloud began to subside she saw the outline of the armored being a few meters away. But once her mind distinguished his silhouette, the nerve-piercing glow of her pursuer's cerulean mask and eyepiece lit up in the darken haze and bore straight at her.

Utter fear seized Emerald on spot. Her eyes widened and her kamas trembled in her hands. Unconsciously taking a step back, she momentarily flinched when a door handle pressed itself into her back. She opened the door behind her and ran. The door fortunately was an exit that led straight outside into the night.

Though the jolts from the electricity had died out enough for her to regain control of her body, her muscles were utterly in searing pain. Her lungs burned, her eardrums rang and the sharp impact from razor wind still hurt across her torso.

Despite it all, Emerald's frayed and panicked mind reminded her that she wasn't out of danger just yet. Emerald mentally berated herself for panicking so badly.

But her panic instantly transformed to anger and determination. Running was no longer an option. If her attacker wanted to kill her, Emerald saw it fair to want to kill her attacker in return. Emerald muttered a curse and quickly assessed her surroundings.

The warehouse wall exploded.

* * *

Arc landed on the crushed brick rubble, facial wear still glowing a haunting cerulean. He peered through the dust with his enhanced vision to assess his surroundings. Though slightly distorted by the dispelling dust, Arc could make out enough outlines to know they were back outside in the moonlit alleyways. It was a highly unfavorable situation, seeing that Emerald now had the opportunity to evade even further, but his sensors picking up a very nearby contact subdued his concern.

Crushing the debris beneath his boots with every step, Arc moved out of the lingering dust cloud with Graucus Aegis gripped by his sides, its blade now faintly glowing yellow with waning electricity.

His organic mind suddenly became slammed with horrid imageries and details. The edges of his vision danced with unfathomable delusions and fragmented his vision with hallucinations.

His system filters could only dispel so much at once. The unhinged onslaught of Emerald's semblance was enough to make Arc stagger for a moment.

A moment in which Emerald, screaming a curdling battle cry, lunged at him with kamas descending at his head.

Instantly, Arc shut out his hallucinating brain and focused through his body's sensors. Through the sensors of his cybernetic body, he could see everything in correlated detail. Every outline and facet of reality became known to him. He could even see Emerald's blades closing in on his head.

Arc's body reacted with unseen speed and raised his shield, its edge catching the curves of his attacker's kamas. The counter-forcing shove that followed through would have thrown Emerald back, but the girl was already prepared and fighting for her life.

The exchange of blows intensified with every movement and counter. Electrical jolts continuously flashed off Arc's blade with every attack of his parried. Sparks flared off his shield with every block from the flurry of kama strikes and assault of dust rounds.

Emerald was utilizing her surroundings to gain maneuverability and attack from all angles. All the while, her semblance was being flung at full force, constantly bombarding her foe with torrents of illusions. Tears streamed from her dark-red, shrunken irises eyes and flickered off her face with every movement. Her voice had long gone hoarse from all her rageful cries. Her already-low aura flared around her with every minor electrical discharge or slash. But with burning instincts to live flowing through her and her fatigue being replaced with sheer will, Emerald fought on.

Arc matched every blow and dust round with Graecus Aegis. Through the eyes of his mechanical sensors, the cybernetic knight shifted to counter every direction Emerald attacked from and launch his own attack. His incapacitated organic senses only gave way to thickening headache that did nothing to affect his cybernetics and combat system.

The very same combat system that detected a pattern of Emerald's movements and a predicted interception point amidst the chaotic apexes of the fight.  
There only had to be an opening.

Arc performed one last counter before he drew his blade and speared it forward, the hilt leaving his metallic grasp.  
The dimly sparking sword flew straight to impale Emerald.

The thief launched herself at Arc, dodging the blade with a swipe to knock it off course.

Arc raised his shield over himself and blocked Emerald's high attack. But before Emerald could ride out her upward momentum over, Arc's now-free hand shot out from underneath his shield and metallic claws seized the thief's ankle.

Snatching her out of the air, Arc immediately yanked Emerald downward and slammed her into the ground, shattering the pavement from the impact and knocking the kamas out of her hand. Ignoring the shrieking cries of agony, Arc twisted his wrist and lashed out at the wall, the limp body in his grasp smashing through the solid surface.

Emerald's aura flickered and died.

A swift turn of his body and another swipe sent the thief's body careening through the paralleling alley wall with an audible crunch of bone. Another swing into a nearby dumpster came with another snapping noise. Arc finally let go of Emerald's ankle after he slammed her into the ground again and cast her away.

The bloody ragdoll form of Emerald landed in a heap down the alleyway.

* * *

A thrashing pain in her head kept Emerald from the dark emptiness. The red-hot pain pulsating throughout her body nearly made her faint. She could feel her blood dripping from the many gashes and cuts all over her body and puddling beneath her. Vaguely, she felt her tears cascading down her cheeks. And for the briefest of moments, Emerald fought to recall how she ended up in this situation.

Then it all came back to her: her attacker, the chase through the abandoned warehouse district all accumulating to her desperate attack of retaliation.

All emotions and thoughts swelling inside her were blocked out by the sheer pain of her injuries. Yet throughout all the agonizing haze, Emerald could formulate one coherent thought: she had to escape.

Numbingly, she willed her shaking hands to crawl forward. Her torso began to move, but a lingering pain forced a cry when she tried to move her legs.  
She didn't even have to look to figure her legs had been broken.  
Everything felt drained. Her aura was gone and she couldn't concentrate enough to use her semblance, not that it worked on her attacker anyways.

The scraping noise of a sword being drawn from stone brought back Emerald's attention to the situation at hand: her attacker was still here.

Desperately, Emerald tried to crawl away, her own frantic thoughts driving her forward inch by inch across the dusty pavement.

 _She wanted to see Cinder again. The only woman that ever cared for her._

 _She wanted to see another day on Remnant._

 _She wanted to live._

She wanted a lot of things in that moment. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw two massive, white armored boots step around her. A hollow sob choked her.

The two white armored boots came to a stop in front of her, blocking whatever false chances of escape she had. Emerald gritted her teeth from the pain that shot through her when she craned her head up. Before her stood the cybernetic knight wielding his massive shield and sword and bearing down on her with a haunting cerulean glow.

No words were exchanged; no taunts, no proclamations or demands.

A final spark convulsed on the tip of the blade; the very blade looming mere inches away from her face.

 _She didn't want to die_.

* * *

Arc drove his blade through.

* * *

 **MEANWHILE AT BEACON...**

Weiss impatiently tapped her pen against her temple. Her eyes were no longer reading the textbook beneath her, but rather they blankly stared at the letters in attempt to comprehend their contents. And for the umptieth time, she felt her eyelids begin to close and sweet bliss of slumber start to seduce her.

The Schnee heiress vigorously shook her head, staving off her drowsiness, and pinched the ridge of her nose with a sigh.  
Perhaps she needed another break.

Weiss closed the textbook and reached for her nearby mug. Its contents had grown cold hours ago, but it still held its very needed caffeine. Drawing the edge of the mug away from her lips, Weiss set her mug aside and returned her attention to her textbook and its troublesome topic: Advanced Dust Applications.

Weiss audibly sighed. She didn't have to be up this late meretriciously finishing homework and studying; all classes started tomorrow. But being her refine and responsible self, she couldn't help but get started when she idly came across her classes' syllabuses online, which been posted two weeks ago. To which they _all_ should take more seriously. Classwork that stretched over the timespan of months had been condensed down to mere weeks to make time for the Vytal Festival and its Tournament.

If anything, her partner/team leader should've had them spent the two weeks prior working on meeting the posted due dates. It would have certainly saved them from the foreseeable coursework burnout.

She could already imagine the study sessions: Yang would be strung out in her seat, Blake would be scouring through textbooks to absorb all the information and Ruby would have collapsed on the table.

' _I should probably start ordering boxes of cookies now then,'_ Weiss figured.

Reluctantly, she reopened her textbook and tried to concentrate on where she left off. Everything had almost made sense until she stumbled upon a rather peculiar set of formulas and questions. Formulas and questions that seemingly contradicted everything she just read. Yet for all the frustration festering in her head, Weiss wasn't too unaware to not notice a figure approach from the corner of her eye.  
She was too busy to be bothered right now. Hopefully whomever this person was would pick up on her silent treatment and leave.

"U-uh, e-excuse me…miss?" the person stammered.

"I'm busy," Weiss snapped tersely, not even looking up from her textbook.

"I…can see that," the person continued, "but I was wondering if we could maybe exchange study notes?"

For the first time, Weiss pried her eyes away from the textbook and actually looked at her speaker. She took in the image of a male teenager dressed in accents of red, white and black holding a copy of the same textbook as hers, except for all the loose notes stuffed and jutting out of the textbook's pages. It was easy to figure that he enrolled in Advanced Dust Applications, but something peculiar about the guy threw her off.

"You're…a first-year?" Weiss questioned.

"Yeah," the teenager admitted bashfully, "The naïve look on my face give it away?"

Weiss ignored the commentary, "Why are you enrolled in Advanced Dust Applications?"

"Oh, because I somehow passed the placement exams," the teenager admitted and held up his textbook, "anyways, would you happen to understand what chapter six is talking about?"

Weiss blinked. Chapter six? Did they have the same book? She was barely comprehending chapter three! The heiress was tempted to decline the offer out of indignity and pride, but Weiss knew how to spot an opportunity when it presented itself. The seemingly intelligent first-year before her asking for help was certainly an opportunity. It also helped that he wasn't schmoozing or fanboying over the fact that she was a Schnee.

"I suppose," Weiss replied aridly and gestured to the seat across from her, "but in order for us to be on the same page, you need to tell me what you learned so far."

"Of course," the guy replied cheerily and took his seat, "thank you."

Weiss nodded in approval. It was pleasant to know that she wasn't the only student in Beacon trying to avoid the upcoming burnout in the semester. With this young man's intellect and comprehension on one of the hardest subjects for her, what with how he easily began breaking down and reiterating the information in a way she could understand, she foresaw a mutually beneficial study partnership.  
That being the underlining notion, Weiss realized her cold and analytical behavior made her forget her manners.

"I'm sorry, what was your name again?"

The young male paused his words.

"Crimson," he said, "Crimson Vexillum."

* * *

 **Author's note: Well this certainly turned dark...and foreboding.** **"Sci-Fi/Tragedy" genre indeed.**

 **A rather drastic initiative on Arc's behalf; but p** **ersonally, I like this chapter because it advances the plot. This is the part where the story begins to shift gears and build momentum.**

 **Criticisms, reviews, literary discussions and scorching hot hatred flames are, as always, welcomed and encouraged. Thanks for stopping by to read.**

 **And now back to awaiting for RWBY Volume 6.**

 **(Volume 6 HYPE!)**


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